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OF  THE 


Mayor's   Commission 


ON 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


MUNICIPAL 

REFEHENCE4.IBRARY 

1005  CITY  HALL 


CHICAGO,    MARCH,    1914 


REMOTE  STORAG1 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.     Report  of  the  Commission     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  5 

II.     Reports  of  Sub-Committees :                    .         .         .         .         .  14 

1.  Nature  and  Extent  of  Unemployment           ...  14 

2.  Employment  Agencies         .          .                    .          .          .  48 

3.  Immigration        .          .                    .          .          .          .          .  60 

4.  Relief  and  Unemployment           ...         -         .  79 


APPENDIX 

I.     Bureaus  of  Employment  (Labor  Exchanges^in  Europe  .         .         83 
By  the  Secretary  of  the  Commission 


II.     Unemployment  Insurance      .......         8*7 

By  the  Secretary 

III.     Unemployment  and  Public  Employment  Agencies  .         .95 

By  E.  H.  Sutherland 


REPORT 

OF  THE 

MAYOR'S  COMMISSION 

ON 

UNEMPLOYMENT 


On  January  22,  1912,  Carter  H  Harrison,  Mayor  of  Chicago,  sent  the  following 
communication  to  the  City  Council,  and  as  a  result  of  this  communication  the  accom- 
panying resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Council: 

Office  of  the  Mayor,  Chicago,  January  22,  1912. 

To  the  Honorable  the  City  Council: 

GENTLEMEN — I  am  in  receipt  of  a  communication  from  the  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  United  Charities  which  calls  attention,  among  other 
things,  to  "the  utter  hopelessness  of  relieving  the  sufferings  and  evils  caused  by 
unemployment  in  all  its  forms,  by  private  or  public  charity,  working  alone ." 

This  communication  suggests  the  advisability  of  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
mittee to  study  and  report  on  the  whole  subject  of  Unemployment,  and  to  make 
such  recommendations  as  may  suggest  themselves  for  the  amelioration  of 
existing  conditions. 

As  this  subject  of  unemployment  is  one  of  the  most  serious  questions  with  which 
a  great  community  has  to  deal,  the  suggestion  appeals  to  me  with  great  force,  and  I 
would  suggest  that  your  Honorable  Body  authorize  me  to  appoint'  a  Committee,  to 
consist  of  five  members  of  your  Honorable  Body  and  ten  citizens  of  the  community, 
to  make  a  thorough  study  of  unemployment,  and  to  present  recommendations  that 
will  tend  to  bring  about  the  greatest  possible  relief. 

Respectfully  yours, 

(Signed)  CARTER  H.  HARRISON, 

Mayor. 

Unanimous  consent  was  given  for  the  consideration  of  the  resolution  submitted 
with  the  foregoing  communication. 

Aid.  Thomson  moved  to  adopt  the  said  resolution. 

The  motion  prevailed. 

The  following  is  the  said  resolution  as  adopted : 

WHEREAS,  There  has  existed  for  some  time  past  a  great  depression  in  many 
mercantile,  industrial  and  manufacturing  establishments  whereby  thousands  of 
our  wage-earners  have  been  deprived  of  a  livelihood  for  themselves  and  families, 
and, 

WHEREAS,  The  conditions  thereby  caused  have  produced  great  suffering  which 
has  now  become  exceedingly  aggravated  on  account  of  the  unusually  severe  weather 
that  prevails  over  a  wide  area  of  our  country ;  and, 

WHEREAS,  The  present  demands  of  the  unemployed  for  food,  clothing  and 
shelter  are  taxing  to  their  utmost  the  efforts  of  all  charitable  agencies ;  and, 

WHEREAS,  These  pitiful  conditions  among  the  poor  and  unemployed,  if  not 
relieved,  are  liable  to  endanger  the  health,  safety  and  welfare  of  our  citizens; 
therefore,  be  it 


6 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

RESOLVED,  That  the  Mayor,  be  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  ap- 
point a  committee,  consisting  of  five  (5)  members  of  the  City  Council  and  ten 
(10)  citizens  of  the  city,  to  inquire  into  and  report  at  an  early  date  concerning  the 
cause  or  causes  for  the  nonemployment  of  so  many  wage  earners,  the  extent  and 
effect  of  the  prevailing  conditions  upon  the  community,  and  what  can  and  should  be 
done  more  effectually  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  and  unemployed  and 
provide  employment,  either  in  public  or  private  undertakings,  for  the  many  men 
now  or  who  may  hereafter  be  out  of  work  in  the  City  of  Chicago. 

The  following  communication  was  transmitted  by  His  Honor,  the  Mayor,  with 
the  said  resolution : 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO,  CHICAGO,  December  27,  1911. 

His  Honor,  Mayor  C.  H.  Harrison,  Chicago : 

SIR — I  must  plead  over  thirty  years'  experience  in  city  charity  work  for  asking 
a  little  of  your  time  and  attention  for  a  vital  public  concern. 

I  am  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  United  Charities ;  but  this 
letter  is  merely  an  individual  suggestion  for  which  no  one  else  is  responsible.  I 
was  also  American  delegate  to  the  International  Commission  on  Unemployment  in 
1909  and  1911  at  Paris  and  Ghent. 

The  utter  hopelessness  of  relieving  the  sufferings  and  evils  caused  by  unem- 
ployment in  all  its  forms  by  private  or  public  charity,  working  alone,  has  been 
forced  upon  my  mind. 

I  wonder  if  you  would  be  willing  to  authorize  and  name  a  Commission  to  study 
and  report  to  you  on  the  whole  subject? 

The  preliminary  survey  of  the  problem,  with  reference  to  Chicago  needs,  should 
not  cost  over  $1,000  for  clerical  services.  The  work  would  be  done  without  cost  to 
the  city. 

Very    respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  C.  R.  HENDERSON. 

Outline  of  proposed  investigation  of  Mayor's  Committee  on  the  subject  of  Un- 
employment in  Chicago : 

I.  What  are   facts   about  unemployment   in   Chicago :   i.   e.,   involuntary  un- 
employment not  due  to  sickness,  accident,  old  age,  crime  or  strikes  and  lockouts. 
The  facts  should  be  collected  and  arranged  under  the  categories  of:     (1)  race  and 
nativity;      (2)    seasons;     (3)    trades  and   skill;      (4)    periodical  depressions  over 
20  years. 

II.  What  is  the  burden  on  public  and  private  charity  and  relief  caused  by 
unemployment :    from    records    and    testimony    of    local    experts    and    commission 
reports. 

III.  What  is  the  burden  of  unemployment  on  the  wages  of  self-supporting 
wage  earners?    Effect  on  their  standard  of  living. 

IV.  What  is  the  effect  of  unemployment  on  increase  of  vice  and  crime,  and 

Eublic  expense  for  these?     Danger  to   life,  property,   order,   security,   and   public 
ealth. 

V.  Palliative  measures  in  Chicago.     Public  and  private  relief :  indiscriminate 
doles.     Investigate  influence  of  these  methods  on  increase  of  vagabondage,  vice, 
disease  and  industrial  loss  to  community. 

VI.  The  rudimentary  beginnings  of  methods  of  preventing  unemployment. 

1.  Private  employment  officers  and  State  inspection  of  these. 

2.  State  employment  bureaus,  and  possible  improvement  of  these. 

_  VII.     Rudimentary  beginnings  of  insurance  against  loss  from  unemployment. 
Chiefly  the  out-of-work  and  travelling  benefits  of  trade  unions. 

VIII.  Study   of    European    experience   and    recent    legislation    in    relation    to 
unemployment. 

IX.  Proposal  of  a  policy  of  action  in  relation  to  prevention  and  insurance, 
based  on  above  study. 

1.  This  proposal  must  exclude  all  distant  and  Utopian  schemes  outside  the 
range  ef  possible  practical  action  at  present :  as  single  tax,  socialism,  etc. 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 7 

2.  The  proposed  policy  would  include  a  study  of  methods  already  successful 
and  probably  practicable  in  this  city,  as  for  example : 

a.  Vocational  training,  guidance  and  supervising  control  of  youth  from  the 
fourteenth  to  the  nineteenth  year  at  least.    This  policy  is  already  accepted  in  prin- 
ciple by  our  Board  of  Education.     Should  it  not  be  greatly  extended? 

b.  A  real  Labor  Exchange  on  modern  lines. 

c.  A   conference  of   officials   of   public   and   quasi-public  bodies  having  large 
contracts  to  give,  with  a  view  to  spreading  demand  for  labor  more  evenly  over 
ten-year  periods. 

d.  Better  care,  protection,  and  training  of  immigrants  to  fit  them  more  quickly 
for  their  occupations.     Better  distribution. 

e.  Voluntary  training  shops  for  the  "unemployable"  who  desire  to  learn  to 
work. 

f.  Compulsory  colonies,   farms  and  shops,  for  the  "unemployable"  and  "un- 
helpable"  who  require  rigorous  discipline  to  save  them  from  complete  ship- 
wreck. 

Respectfully  submitted  for  consideration. 

(Signed)    "  C.  R.  HENDERSON. 

Bibliography : 

S.  and  E.  Webb,  The  Prevention  of  Destitution.  (This  gives  the  best  recent 
literature.) 

I.  G.  Gibbons,  Unemployment  Insurance. 

Acting  on  this  resolution  Mayor  Harrison  appointed  a  Commission  of  twenty- 
two  citizens,  including  five  members  of  the  City  Council,  with  Charles  R.  Crane, 
Chairman,  and  Charles  Richmond  Henderson,  Secretary.  At  its  first  meeting, 
February  24,  1912,  the  Commission  divided  itself  for  the  purpose  of  study  into 
seven  sub-committees,  as  follows : 

COMMITTEES. 

1.  Nature  and  Extent  of  Unemployment — Oscar  G.  Mayer,  Chairman,  Mal- 
colm McDowell,  James  H.  Bowman. 

2.  Employment  Bureaus — Frederic  A.  Delano  (resigned),  Rev.  R.  A.  White 
Chairman,  Alderman  J.  B.  Bowler. 

3.  Immigration — Louis  F.  Post,  Chairman,  Alderman  F.  P.  Danisch. 

4.  Vocational  Guidance — Graham  Taylor,  Chairman,  H.  G.  Adair,  Alder- 
man J.  H.  Lawley. 

5.  Adjustments  of  Employment — Edward  Tilden,  Chairman,  John  J.  Sons- 
teby.  W.  H.  Cruden. 

6.  Relief — Rev.  Father  M.  J.  Dorney,  Chairman,  O.  G.  Finkelstein,  Alder- 
man W.  F.  Schultz,  John  A.  Cervenka. 

7.  Laws   Repressing   Vagabonds — Judge    Edward    O.    Brown,    Chairman, 
Alderman  Twigg. 

The  sub-committee  on  Nature  and  Extent  of  Unemployment  prepared  and  sent 
to  representative  employers  and  trade  unions  a  questionnaire,  with  the  object  of 
securing  as  much  detailed  information  as  possible  in  regard  to  their  subject.  Inci- 
dentally this  committee  included  in  its  questions  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  attitudes 
of  trade  unions  and  employers  toward  efficient  public  employment  exchanges.  These 
questionnaires  and  a  compilation  of  the  results  of  the  answers  are  given  in  the  com- 
plete report  of  this  sub-committee. 

The  sub-committee  on  Immigration  divided  itself  still  further  for  purposes  of 
study,  and  called  in  other  interested  parties  for  assistance  in  the  preparation  of 
a  report.  This  sub-committee  has  prepared  a  report  on  the  subjects  of  (1)  mi- 
gratory labor,  (2)  over-employment  and  under-employment,  (3)  unemployment 
among  immigrant  women,  (4)  charities,  (5)  population  and  immigration  sta- 
tistics. The  complete  report  of  this  sub-committee  is  given  below. 

The  sub-committee  on  the  adjustment  of  employment  or  the  dove-tailing  of 
occupations  submitted  a  report,  the  purport  of  which  was  expressed  in  the  following 
resolution : 

"We  recommend  to  the  Governor  and  Legislature  the  creation  of  a  De- 
partment  of    Labor    (or   Industrial    Commission)    whose   duty   would   be   to 
enforce  the   laws  now  enforced   by  the   Factory   Inspector,  to   collect  labor 
.  statistics  now  in  charge  of  a  separate  bureau,  to  administer  the  laws  of  arbi- 


8 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

tration  in  labor  difficulties;  to  supervise  the  private  employment  offices,  and 
to  direct  the  state  labor  exchange  in  accordance  with  principles  stated  in  our 
previous  resolution." 

After  a  hearing  on  this  subject  the  Commission  decided  to  postpone  con- 
sideration of  the  question. 

The  sub-committee  on  Relief  in  Emergencies  made  a  study  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  unemployment  is  a  cause  of  destitution  and  of  applications  for 
assistance  from  charitable  associations  in  Chicago;  and  of  the  assistance  now 
being  given  by  such  associations  to  the  unemployed  in  Chicago.  A  part  of 
this  report  is  given  below. 

The  sub-committee  on  employment  bureaus  made  an  investigation  of  the 
private  and  philanthropic  employment  agencies  of  Chicago,  and  of  the  other 
means  of  securing  employment.  The  results  of  this  investigation  are  repro- 
duced below.  On  the  basis  of  this  study  and  of  recommendations  of  other 
sub-committees,  the  sub-committee  on  Employment  Bureaus  submitted  a  reso- 
lution, which  was  adopted  by  the  Commission  on  May  25,  1912.  This-  resolution 
is  as  follows : 

"1.  We  recommend  the  establishment  of  a  Labor  Exchange,  so 
organized  as  to  assure  (a)  adequate  funds  to  make  it  efficient  in  the 
highest  possible  degree;  (>b)  with  a  mode  of  appointment  of  the  salaried  di- 
rectors which  will  protect  it  against  becoming  the  spoils  of  political 
factions  and  parties;  (c)  with  a  Board  or  Council  of  responsible 
citizens,  representing  employers,  employes  and  the  general  public,  to 
direct  the  general  policy  and  watch  over  the  efficiency  of  the  adminis- 
tration, this  Board  or  Council  having  the  power  to  employ  and  dis- 
charge all  employes,  subject  to  proper  regulation  of  the  Civil  Service 
Commission. 

"2.      We    recommend    that    the    Governor    and    Legislature    be    re- 
quested  at  the   next   session   of  the   Legislature   to   amend  the  present 
law  relating  to  free  State  Employment  bureaus  so  as  to  secure  a  cen- 
tral Labor  Exchange,  based  on  the  principles  first  stated." 
Professor  E.  Freund,  well  known  as  an  authority  on  the  Police  Power  and 
Social  Legislation,  kindly  gave  his  valuable  services  in  drafting  a  bill  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  conclusion  of  the  Commission.     This  bill,  as  drafted,  is  as 
follows : 

A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT 

To  Relieve  Unemployment  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  to  Establish  a  State 

Labor  Exchange. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois  repre- 
sented in  the  General  Assembly,  That  there  shall  be,  as  part  of  the  Civil 
Service  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  a  bureau  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  diminish- 
ing the  evils  arising  from  lack  of  employment  or  casual  or  irregular  employ- 
ment of  labor,  to  be  known  as  the  Illinois  Labor  Exchange  Bureau. 

SECTION  2.  Said  Labor  Exchange  shall  be  under  the  general  supervision 
and  control  of  a  Board  of  Managers,  to  consist  of  five  members  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
and  to  be  selected,  as  far  as-  practicable,  from  persons  familiar  with  prob- 
lems of  labor  and  employment.  Said  members  shall  hold  their  office  for  a 
term  of  five  years  except  that  of  the  members  first  appointed:  one  shall 
hold  office  for  the  term  of  one  year,  one  for  the  term  of  two  years,  one  for  the 
term  of  three  years,  one  for  the  term  of  four  years,  one  for  the  term  of  five 
years,  and  all  appointments  thereafter  shall  be  made  for  terms  of  five  years. 
Said  members  shall  not  receive  any  salary  but  shall  be  paid  the  sum  of  $10.00 
each  for  each  day  necessarily  spent  in  the  performance  of  their  official 
duties,  and  shall  also  be  paid  their  traveling  expenses.  Said  Board  of  Mana- 
gers may  adopt  a  seal  for  said  Exchange  and  may  also  adopt  rules  for  the 
transaction  of  its  business.  A  majority  of  their  number  shall  constitute  a 
quorum  for  the  transaction  of  official  business.  They  shall  keep  a  record  of 
their  proceedings.  The  official  seat  of  said  Exchange  shall  be  in  the  City  of 
Chicago,  but  they  shall  have  authority  to  meet  elsewhere  in  the  State. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 9 

SECTION  3.  Said  Board  of  Managers  shall  appoint  a  general  superin- 
tendent who  shall  be  selected  and  hold  office  in  accordance  with  the  Civil 
Service  Law  of  this  State,  and  who  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $ — • — . 
Said  Superintendent  shall,  subject  to  said  Board  of  Managers,  have  the 
general  executive  direction  of  the  said  labor  exchange.  He  shall  reside  in  the 
City  of  Chicago. 

SECTION  4.  Said  Board  of  Managers  shall  establish  a  central  labor  ex- 
change in  the  City  of  Chicago  and  such  number  of  branches  in  the  City  of 
Chicago  and  in  other  cities  or  localities  of  the  State  as  they  may  from  time 
to  time  determine  to  be  advisable  and  as  the  Governor  may  approve.  Sub- 
ject to  like  approval,  they  shall  have  power  to  reduce  the  number  of  said 
branch  or  local  offices,  or  to  consolidate  several  offices  into  one,  and  for  that 
purpose  to  make  the  necessary  official  changes.  Each  branch  office  shall 
be  in  charge  of  a  business  manager  who  shall  be  responsible  and  subject 
to  the  direction  of  the  general  superintendent.  He  shall  be  appointed  by 
said  Board  of  Managers  and  selected  and  hold  office  in  accordance  with  the 

Civil  Service  Law  of  the  State,  and  receive  a  salary  not  to  exceed  $ — . 

The  clerical  organization  and  office  equipment  of  said  central  exchange  and 
branch  offices  shall  be  determined  by  said  Board  of  Managers  in  co-operation 
with  said  general  superintendent  within  the  limits  of  the  amounts  appro- 
priated for  said  service  by  the  General  Assembly.  As  far  as  practicable, 
separate  rooms  shall  be  provided  in  each  office  for  male  and  for  female  or 
juvenile  applicants  for  employment,  and  where  there  are  several  clerical  em- 
ployes in  any  office  it  shall  be  the  policy  of  the  Bureau  that  at  least  one  of 
said  employes  shall  be  a  woman. 

SECTION  5.  Subject  to  said  Board  of  Managers  the  general  superintend- 
ent may  organize,  in  connection  with  each  branch  exchange,  an  advisory  board 
of  not  more  than  five  members,  who  shall  ^>e  persons  interested  in  labor  prob- 
lems, and  who  shall  serve  without  compensation.  The  functions  of  "said  ad- 
visory board  to  be  determined  by  rules  of  said  Board  of  Managers. 

SECTION  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Illinois  Labor  Exchange  to  in- 
vestigate the  extent  and  causes  of  unemployment  and  the  remedies  therefor 
and  to  devise  and  adopt  the  most  effectual  means  within  its  power  to  provide 
employment  and  to  prevent  distress  and  involuntary  idleness,  and  for  that 
purpose  it  shall  have  power  to  co-operate  with  the  similar  bureaus  and  com- 
missions of  other  States. 

SECTION  7.  The  labor  exchange,  through  its  central  and  branch  of- 
fices, shall  receive  applications  of  persons  seeking  employment  and  applica- 
tions of  persons  seeking  to  employ  labor,  and  collect  information  and  data 
regarding  conditions  of  labor  and  employment  in  the  State.  Full  records 
shall  be  kept  of  all  applications  received  and  positions  secured,  and  as  far  as 
possible,  of  the  length  of  time  during  which  each  position  secured  shall  be 
held  and  the  cause  whereby  such  position  shall  be  lost.  Provision  may  be 
made  for  handling  separately  the  securing  of  employment  for  young  per- 
sons, for  persons  unable  to  support  themselves  permanently  in  an  adequate 
manner,  for  ex-convicts  and  paroled  prisoners,  for  unorganized  migratory 
labor,  and  for  such  other  cla'sses  of  labor  as  may  require  special  treatment. 
In  connection  with  any  of  such  classes  of  labor  provision  may  be  made  for 
the  keeping  of  special  registers  showing  particulars  regarding  the  age,  na- 
tivity, trade  or  occupation  of  each  applicant,  cause  and  duration  of  non- 
employment,  whether  married  or  single,  the  number  of  dependent  children 
or  relatives,  together  with  such  other  facts  as  may  be  required  by  said 
Board  of  Managers.  Such  special  registers  shall  not  be  open  to  public  in- 
spection, but  shall  be  held  in  confidence  and  the  data  shall  be  so  published  as 
not  to  reveal  the  identity  of  any  person,  and  any  applicant  who  shall  decline 
to  furnish  answers  as  to  questions  contained  in  special  registers  shall  not 
thereby  forfeit  any  rights  to  any  employment  that  may  thereby  be  secured 
for  them. 

SECTION  8.  All  local  or  branch  offices  shall  be  in  constant  communica- 
tion with  said  central  exchange  and  shall  co-operate  with  each  other  as 
directed  by  said  central  exchange.  Reports  shall  be  ,made  to  such  central 
exchange  as  directed  by  the  general  superintendent.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 


10 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

the  general  superintendent  to  place  himself  in  communication  with  manu- 
facturers, merchants  and  other  employers  of  labor  and  to  use  all  diligence  in 
securing  the  co-operation  of  said  employers  of  labor  with  the  purposes  and 
objects  of  said  labor  exchange.  To  this  end  it  shall  be  competent  for  such 
superintendent  to  advertise  in  the  columns  of  newspapers  or  other  medium,  for 
such  situations  as  he  has  applicants  to  fill,  and  he  may  advertise  in  a  general 
way  for  the  co-operation  of  large  contractors  and  employers  in  such  trade 
journals  or  special  publications  as  reach  such  employers,  whether  such  trade 
or  special  journals  are  published  within  the  State  of  Illinois  or  outside  of  the 
State.  The  like  duties  may  be  performed  by  the  manager  of  each  branch 
office  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  general  superintendent.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  employment  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  labor  exchange  to 
make  provision  for  advancing  to  applicants  for  employment  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation to  the  place  of  employment  subject  to  rules  and  regulations  to  ,be 
established  by  the  Board  of  Managers.  The  services  of  said  exchange  in  se- 
curing employment  shall  not  be  withheld  by  reason  of  any  strike  or  lockout, 
but  full  information  shall  be  given  to  applicants  regarding  the  existence  of 
any  such  labor  disturbance. 

SECTION  9.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  general  superintendent  to  make 
report  to  the  Board  of  Managers  not  later  than  December  10th,  in  each  year, 
concerning  the  work  of  the  exchange  for  the  year,  until  October  1st  of  the 
same  year.  Such  report  shall  be  transmitted  by  said  Board  of  Managers  to  the 
Governor,  who  shall  submit  it  to  the  General  Assembly. 

SECTION  10.  No  fee  or  compensation  shall  'be  charged  or  received  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  from  persons  applying  for  employment  or  help  through 
such  labor  exchange,  and  any  manager  or  clerk  or  other  employe  of  any  of 
said  offices  who  shall  accept  directly  or  indirectly  any  fee  or  compensation 
from  any  applicant  or  from  his  or  her  representative  shall  be  deemed  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor  and  upon  conviction  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  $25.00  or 
more  than  $50.00,  or  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  for  not  more  than  thirty 
days,  or  both  fined  and  imprisoned  as  aforesaid. 

SECTION  11.  All  printing,  blanks,  blank  books,  stationery  and  such  other 
supplies  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  proper  conduct  of  the  business  of  the 
offices  herein  created  or  authorized  to  be  created,  shall  be  furnished  by  the 
Secretary  of  State  upon  request  for  the  same,  signed  by  the  general  super- 
intendent. 

SECTION  12.  An  Act  relating  to  employment  offices  and  agencies,  ap- 
proved and  enforced  May  11,  1903,  is  hereby  repealed. 

In  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1912-13  several  meetings  of  the  Commission 
were  held,  and  as  a  result  another  bill  was  drawn  up,  referred  to  the  Mayor 
and  by  him  to  the  City  Council.  With  their  approval  the  bill  was  presented 
by  Hon.  Mr.  Farrell,  April  10,  1913,  as  House  Bill  495. 

HOUSE  BILL  No.  495,  48th  G.  A.,  1913. 

Introduced  by  Mr.  Farrell,  April  10,  1913. 

Read  by  title,  ordered  printed  and  referred  to  Committee  on  Judiciary. 

A  BILL 

For  an  Act  to  amend  sections  1,  2,  3,  4,  5  and  6  of  an  Act  entitled,  "An  Act 
relating  to  employment  offices  and  agencies,"  approved  and  in  force  May 
11,  1903,  as  amended  by  Act  approved  June  5,  1909,  in  force  July  1,  1909. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represented 
in  the  General  Assembly:  That  Sections  1,  2,  3,  4,  5  and  6  of  an  Act  en- 
titled, "An  Act  relating  to  employment  offices  and  agencies,"  approved  and 
in  force  May  11,  1903,  as  amended  by  Act  approved  June  5,  1909,  in  force  July 
1,  1909,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows: 

SKCTION  1.  That  free  employment  offices  are  hereby  created  as  follows:  One 
in  each  city  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  (25,000)  population  for  the 
purpose  of  receiving  applications  of  persons  seeking  to  employ  help.  The 
term  "application  for  employment,"  as  used  in  this  Act,  shall  be  construed  to 
mean  any  person  seeking  work  of  any  lawful  character.  And  "application  for 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 11 

help"  shall  mean  any  person  or  persons  seeking  help  in  any  legitimate  enter- 
rise.  And  nothing  in  this  Act  shall  be  construed  to  limit  the  meaning  of  the 
term  "work"  to  manual  occupation.  But  it  shall  include  professional  services 
and  all  other  legitimate  services.  Such  offices  shall  be  designated  and  known 
as  "The  Illinois  Free  Employment  Offices." 

SECTION  2.  The  State  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Labor  is  hereby  entrusted 
with  the  enforcement  of  this  Act  and  they  may  appoint  a  local  advisory 
committee  in  each  city,  consisting  of  an  equal  number  of  representatives  of 
employers  and  labor,  who  shall  serve  without  compensation  and  perform 
such  duties  as  said  State  Board  of  Labor  Commissioners  shall  indicate.  And 
the  Governor,  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  one  general  su- 
perintendent of  free  employment  offices,  whose  special  duties  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  said  State  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Labor,  but  whose  gen- 
eral duties  shall  be  to  superintend,  promote  and  make  mutually  helpful,  the 
free  employment  agencies  of  the  State. 

The  Governor,  by  this  same  method,  shall  appoint  a  superintendent,  as- 
sistant superintendent  and  a  clerk  for  each  one  of  the  offices  created  by  section 
1  of  this  Act. 

The  assistant  superintendent  or  the  clerk  in  each  office  shall  be  a  woman, 
and  tenure  of  such  appointment  shall  be  for  four  years  (unless  sooner  re- 
moved for  cause  through  the  recommendation  of  the  said  State  Board  of  Com- 
missioners of  Labor  after  a  full  hearing  of  any  charges). 

The  salary  of  the  general  superintendent  shall  be  four  thousand  dollars 
($4,000)  per  annum.  In  cities  of  one  hundred  thousand  (100,000)  or  over,  the 
salary  of  the  superintendent  shall  be  thirty-six  hundred  dollars  ($3,600)  per 
annum.  In  cities  of  one  hundred  thousand  (100,000)  or  over,  the  salary  of  the 
assistant  superintendent  shall  be  eighteen  hundred  dollars  ($1,800)  per  an- 
num. In  cities  of  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  (100,000)  the  salary  of  the 
superintendent  shall  be  two  thousand  dollars  ($2,000)  per  annum.  In  cities 
of  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  (100,000)  the  salary  of  the  assistant  su- 
perintendent shall  be  twelve  hundred  dollars  ($1,200)  per  annum.  The  salary 
of  each  clerk  shall  be  one  thousand  dollars  ($1,000)  per  annum;  and  they  shall 
devote  their  entire  time  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices.  All  addi- 
tional help  required  by  such  offices,  together  with  proper  amounts  for  de- 
fraying the  necessary  costs  for  maintaining  the  respective  offices  shall  be  pro- 
vided upon  the  recommendation  of  the  aforesaid  State  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners of  Labor. 

SKCTION  3.  The  State  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Labor  and  the  general 
superintendent  of  free  employment  offices  shall  cause  to  be  opened,  as  soon 
as  possible  in  each  city  coming  within  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  an  employ- 
ment office;  such  office  to  be  provided  with  a  sufficient  number  of  rooms  and 
apartments  to  enable  them  to  provide,  and  they  shall  so  provide,  a  separate 
room  or  apartment  for  the  use  of  women  or  juveniles  registering  for  situa- 
tions or  help. 

Upon  the  outside  of  each  office,  in  position  and  manner  to  secure  fullest 
public  attention,  shall  be  placed  a  sign  which  shall  read  in  the  English  lan- 
guage "Illinois  Free  Employment  Office,"  and  the  same  shall  appear  either 
upon  the  outside  windows  or  upon  signs  in  such  other  language  as  the  loca- 
tion of  each  such  office  shall  render  advisable. 

The  superintendent  of  each  and  every  free  employment  office  shall  re- 
ceive and  record  in  books  kept  for  that  purpose,  names  of  all  persons  apply- 
ing for  employment  or  help,  designating  opposite  the  names  and  addresses  of 
each  applicant,  the  character  of  employment  or  help  desired. 

Separate  registers  for  applicants  for  employment  shall  be  kept,  showing 
the  age,  nativity,  sex,  trade  or  occupation  of  each  applicant;  the  cause  and 
duration  of  non-employment;  whether  married  or  single;  the  number  of  de- 
pendent children,  together  with  such  other  facts  as  may  be  required  by  th» 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  to  be  used  by  said  bureau :  Provided,  that  no  spe- 
cial registers  shall  be  open  to  public  inspection  at  any  time,  and  that  such 
statistical  and  sociological  data  as  the  Bureau  of  Labor  may  require  shall 
be  held  in  confidence  by  such  bureau,  and  so  published  as  not  to  reveal  the 
identity  of  any  one :  And,  further,  provided,  that  any  applicant  who  shall 


12 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

decline  to  furnish  answers  as  to  questions  contained  in  special  registers  shall 
not  thereby  forfeit  any  rights  to  any  employment  the  office  might  secure. 

SECTION  4.  Each  superintendent  shall  report  on  Thursday  of  each  week  to 
the  State  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  and  to  each  free  employment  agency  in 
the  State,  the  number  of  applicants  for  positions,  and  for  help  received  during 
the  preceding  week;  and  the  number  of  positions  secured,  also  those  unfilled 
applications  remaining  on  the  books  at  the  beginning  of  the  week. 

It  shall  also  show  the  number  and  character  of  the  positions  secured 
during  the  preceding  week.  Upon  receipt  of  these  lists  and  not  later  than 
Saturday  of  each  week  the  secretary  of  the  said  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
shall  cause  to  be  printed  a  sheet  showing  separately  and  in  combination  the 
lists  received  from  all  such  free  employment  offices. 

SECTION  5.  It  shall  be  -the  duty  of  the  general  superintendent  of  free  em- 
ployment offices  to  immediately  put  himself  in  communication  with  the  princi- 
pal manufacturers,  merchants  and  other  employers  of  labor,  and  to  use  all 
diligence  in  securing  the  co-operation  of  the  said  employers  of  labor  with  the 
purposes  and  objects  of  said  employment  offices.  To  this  end  it  shall  be 
competent  for  such  superintendents  to  advertise  in  the  columns  of  newspapers, 
or  other  medium,  for  such  situations  as  he  has  applicants  to  fill,  and  he  may 
advertise  in  a  general  way  for  the  co-operation  of  large  contractors  and  em- 
ployers, whether  such  trade  or  special  journals  are  published  in  Illinois  or  not. 

SECTION  6. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  general  superintendent  to  make  report  to 
the  said  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  annually,  not  later  than  August  31st  of 
each  year,  concerning  the  work  of  his  office  for  the  year  ending  June  30th  of 
the  same  year,  together  with  a  statement  of  the  expenses  of  the  same,  in- 
cluding the  charges  of  an  interpreter  when  necessary,  and  such  report  shall 
be  published  by  the  said  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  annually  with  its  annual 
report.  Each  superintendent  shall  also  perform  such  other  duties  in  the  col- 
lection of  statistics  of  labor  as  a  secretary  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
may  require. 

SECTION  2.    All  Acts  and  parts  of  Acts  in  conflict  herewith  are  hereby  repealed. 

On  November  21,  1913,  the  Secretary  called  the  attention  of  His  Honor, 
Mayor  Harrison,  to  the  urgency  of  the  problem  of  unemployment  during  the 
winter.  Many  of  the  unemployed  were  asking  for  some  kind  of  relief  and 
the  pressure  on  some  of  the  relief  agencies  was  severely  felt.  The  Mayor  re- 
sponded promptly  by  sending  a  message  to  the  City  Council,  as  is  shown  in 
the  following  letter: 

RECONSTITUTION  OF  THE  COMMISSION. 

The  Mayor  thereupon  reconstituted  the  Commission  by  filling  vacancies, 
so  that  the  following  persons  were  its  members  in  December,  1913.  when  the 
work  was  taken  up  anew: 

Alderman  John  Czekala,  Alderman  Martin  J.  Healy,  Alderman  John 
Haderlein,  Alderman  J.  H.  Lawley,  Judge  E.  O.  Brown,  H.  G.  Adair,  Oscar  G. 
Mayer,  Edward  Tilden,  J.  J.  Sonsteby,  W.  F.  Schultz,  Frank  P.  Danisch,  Jud- 
son  Lee,  James  H.  Bowman,  O.  G.  Finkelstein,  W.  H.  Cruden,  Graham  Taylor, 
Rev.  M.  J.  Dorney,  Rev.  R.  A.  White,  Charles  R.  Crane,  President;  Charles 
Richmond  Henderson,  Secretary. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  City  Council,  November  24,  1913,  Mayor  Harrison's 
recommendation  to  re-appoint  the  Commission  was  adopted,  in  view  of  the 
testimony  of  the  philanthropic  societies  and  city  officials  that  unemployment 
again  presents  a  very  serious  situation.  The  Commission  met  on  December 
9,  1913,  and  decided:  (1)  to  postpone  the  general  study  of  legislation  for  a 
few  weeks;  (2)  to  prepare  their  former  studies  and  conclusions  for  publica- 
tion; (3)  to  attack  at  once  the  problems  of  emergency  relief  of  homeless,  indi- 
gent and  unemployed  people.  The  Mayor,  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works 
and  the  Commissioner  of  Health,  in  conference,  agreed  upon  a  policy  of  relief 
which  they  proceeded  to  put  into  effect.  This  policy  did  not  pretend  to  be 
more  than  palliative.  It  includes  the  following  factors: 

1.  The  Department  of  Health  will  use  all  its  powers  to  prevent  physical 
injury  by  exposure  to  cold,  hunger  and  communicable  disease; 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  13 

2.  The  Municipal  Lodging  House  will  be  enlarged  temporarily  by  open- 
ing sleeping  halls  under  the  control  of  the  Department  of  Health,  with  cots 
sufficient  for  the  men  who  are  absolutely  without  means  to  pay  for  sleeping 
places  in  the  cheap  lodging  houses; 

3.  A   trained   man   is  placed   in  charge  of  the   employment  office  in   the 
Municipal  Lodging  House,  whose  duty  it  is  to  secure  odd  jobs  of  all  kinds  and 
in  all  ways  for  those  who  apply  for  lodging  and  meals.    Able-bodied  men  will 
be  offered  work  as  far  as  possible  and  given  meals  and  bed  three  days  in  re- 
turn for  the  work  of  one  day,  until  each  man  can  do  better  for  himself.     Those 
who  refuse  to  work  will  come  under  police  control  at  once. 

The  Department  of  Public  Works  is  able  to  put  on  a  limited  number  of 
men  to  clean  streets,  without  taking  the  places  of  the  regular  laborers  who 
are  under  civil  service  rules  of  appointment  and  tenure. 

4.  The  various  societies  which  deal  with  homeless  and  unemployed  men 
will  be  asked,  so  far  as  possible,  to  send  men  out  of  town  if  work  can   be 
found  for  them  or  if  they  have  friends  able  to  help  them.    Every  effort  will  be 
made  to  prevent  abuse  of  the  relief  and  the  congestion  of  tramps  attracted 
by  the  news  that  gratuitous  food  and  lodging  are  provided. 

5.  The  funds  to  meet  the  emergency  will  be  supplied  partly  by  the  earn- 
ings of  the  men,  partly  by  the  City,  partly  by  public  outdoor  relief,  partly  by 
private  charity,  organized  and  impulsive. 

When  the  time  of  stress  and  trouble  has  passed,  the  more  permanent 
problems  of  unemployment  will  receive  deliberate  consideration  of  the  Com- 
mission. 

The  Commission  voted  to  recommend  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Bureau  of  Welfare,  similar  to  that  in  Kansas  City  and  Cleveland. 

On  the  suggestion  of  officers  of  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  arrange- 
ments were  made  to  try  another  experiment — the  temporary  opening  of  stores 
of  food  materials  and  fuel  to  be  sold  at  cost  to  persons  who  are  liable  to 
become  a  public  charge  unless  they  can  economize  their  meager  savings. 
The  County  Commissioners  authorized  the  County  Agent  to  provide  direc- 
tion and  investigators.  The  City*  provided  a  credit  of  $25,000  to  purchase  the 
food  supplies  and  meet  incidental  expenses.  Efforts  were  made  to  ascertain 
whether  the  County  Commissioners  and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sanitary 
Drainage  Canal  could  provide  work  for  the  men  out  of  employment  and  resi- 
dents of  Chicago. 

•Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  City  Council  of  Chicago,  Regular  Meet- 
ing, Jan.  19,  1914,  p.  3509:  "Commission  on  Non- Employed.  For  amount  to  be 
withdrawn  from  Corporate  Purposes  Fund  and  placed  in  a  special  fund  to  be 
known  as  the  'Commission  on  Non-Employed  Capital  Account'  to  be  expended 
under  the  direction  of  the  Commission  on  Non-Employed,  which  fund  is  to  be  re- 
imbursed by  those  receiving  the  benefit  of  such  expenditures,  .  .  .  $25,000.00." 

THE  PRINTING  OF  A  REPORT. 

On  December  23,  1913,  the  Commission  voted  to  instruct  the  Secretary  to 
prepare  the  report  of  the  investigations  and  recommendations  of  the  Com- 
mission for  publication;  to  include  the  study  of  Professor  E.  H.  Sutherland, 
who  had  assisted  the  Secretary  in  gathering  and  compiling  materials  for  the 
study.  (This  paper  is  printed  as  an  appendix  to  the  report.) 

On  February  8,  1914,  Mr.  G.  W.  Overton  reported  to  the  Commission 
stating  that  the  municipal  labor  office  had  been  closed  by  order  of  the  Mayor. 

He  was  appointed  December  18,  1913,  Municipal  Labor  Agent  and  imme- 
diately started  an  office  in  the  municipal  lodging  house  annex.  The  newspapers 
called  attention  to  the  office  and  444  applied  for  jobs  in  one  day;  but  when  men 
found  there  was  no  work  they  ceased  to  apply.  The  agent  visited  many  em- 
ployers of  labor,  but  found  few  places.  Notices  were  sent  to  4,000  business 
men;  10  or  12  direct  replies  were  received.  Advertisements  in  farmers'  jour- 
nals brought  better  results.  From  December  22,  1913,  to  January  30,  1914, 
employment  was  obtained  for  233  men;  190  temporary,  43  permanent.  There 
were  1,627  applications,  873  from  the  lodging  houses  and  754  others.  The 
following  reports  from  the  trades  unions  indicate  the  conditions  of  the  labor 
market  during  this  period: 


14 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Total  Out  of 
Union                                                                                   Membership.         Work. 

International  Association  of  Machinists,  No.  8 6,000  400 

International  Association  of  Machinists,  No.  63 7,000  500 

Teamsters  Joint  Board 20,000  500 

Bakers'  Union,  No.  2 2,000  400 

Hod  Carriers  and  Building  Laborers 16,000  10,000 

Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers,  No.   1 800  200 

Cigar    Makers'    International    Union 2,400  000 

Building  Trades   Council 75,000  10,000 

Besides  these  the  Machinists'  Union,  No.  63,  stated  that  there  were  about  5,000 
non-union  machinists  out  of  work.  None  of  the  unions  stated  that  there  were  more 
men  than  usual  out  except  the  machinists. 

Having  now  before  the  authorities,  the  public  and  the  members  of  the  Mayor's 
Commission  on  Unemployment  the  materials  thus  far  collected,  the  Commission  is 
engaged  in  the  task  of  a  further  critical  study  of  the  situation.  It  is  hoped  that 
before  the  meeting  of  the  next  Legislature  it  will  be  prepared  to  offer  a  bill  for 
a  law  which  will  show  the  influence  of  criticism,  discussion  and  deliberation. 

For  the  Commission, 
CHARLES  R.  CRANE,  President. 
CHARLES  RICHMOND  HENDERSON,  Secretary. 

On  recommendation  of  the  Commission  the  Mayor  appointed  the  Secretary  of 
the  Commission  a  delegate  to  the  National  Conference  on  Unemployment  in  New 
York  City,  February  27-28.  This  Conference,  under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Association  of  Labor  Legislation,  was  called  by  the  American  Section  of  the  In- 
ternational Association  on  Unemployment.  The  Proceedings  will  be  published. 

II.    REPORTS  OF  SUB-COMMITTEES. 

The  Extent  of  Unemployment. — The  questionnaires  which  were  sent  to 
employers  and  labor  unions  did  not  cover  the  entire  industrial  field,  and 
therefore  furnish  no  indication  of  the  entire  amount  of  unemployment  in 
Chicago;  they  made  a  study  of  particular  industrial  establishments  and  par- 
ticular labor  unions,  however,  which  will  throw  light  on  the  quest  of  the 
extent  of  unemployment. 

Of  46  employers  who  replied  to  this  question.  56.5%  stated  that  they 
could  always  secure  all  the  help  they  want,  28.2%  that  they  could  generajly 
get  all  they  wanted,  8.7%  that  they  could  not  get  all  they  wanted,  and  6.5% 
that  they  could  not  always  get  enough  competent  help.  If  56.5%  of  the  em- 
ployers can  always  get  all  the  help  they  want,  whenever  they  want  it,  there 
must  be  a  considerable  number  of  persons  unemployed  at  all  times  of  the 
year.  This  conclusion  is  substantiated  by  the  reports  from  the  labor  unions; 
fourteen  of  the  nineteen  unions  that  replied  (72%)  stated  that  at  all  times  of 
the  year  some  of  their  members  were  unemployed.  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  there  is  for  the  employers  generally  no  chronic  lack  of  labor,  since  only 
8.7%  of  the  employers  reported  that  they  could  not  always  get  all  the  help 
they  wanted. 

Twenty-four  unions  reported  definitely  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  time 
lost  by  the  average  member;  the  average  member  in  four  unions  lost  less  than 
one  month  at  his  trade;  the  average  member  in  one  union  lost  from  one  to 
two  months;  the  average  member  in  five  unions  lost  from  two  to  three  months; 
the  average  member  in  eight  unions  lost  from  three  to  four  months;  the  aver- 
age member  in  three  unions  lost  from  four  to  five  months;  the  average  mem- 
ber in  two  unions  lost  from  five  to  six  months;  the  average  member  in  one 
union  lost  six  months.  This  does  not  show  whether  they  were  unemployed 
when  not  working  at  their  trades;  but  the  period  of  the  greatest  amount  of 
unemployment  in  eighteen  unions  was  in  the  winter,  in  two  unions  in  the 
spring  or  summer;  this  indicates  a  lack  of  dove-tailing. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 15 

Twenty-seven  labor  unions  reported  in  regard  to  the  percent,  of  their  mem- 
bers working  the  entire  year;  the  reports  are  as  follows: 

In  6  unions  less  than  10%  of  the  members. 
In  4  unions  from  10  to  19%  of  the  members. 
In  0  unions  from  20  to  29%  of  the  members. 
In  1  union  from  30  to  39%  of  the  members. 
In  0  union  from  40  to  49%  of  the  members. 
In  2  unions  from  50  to  59%  of  the  members. 
In  5  unions  from  60  to  69%  of  the  members. 
In  4  unions  from  70  to  79%  of  the  members. 
In  1  union  from  80  to  89%  of  the  members. 
In  1  union  from  90  to  99%  of  the  members. 
In  3  unions  100%  of  the  members. 

The  total  of  the  least  numbers  of  members  of  labor  unions  employed  in  the 
winter  of  1911-12  was  4,383;  the  total  of  the  greatest  numbers  employed  was 
7,380;  these  are  the  total  for  twenty-three  unions  which  reported  in  regard  to 
this.  This  would  show  that  about  3,000  were  unemployed  at  their  trades  at 
some  time  during  the  winter  while  they  were  employed  at  their  trades  at  other 
times  during  the  winter;  it  does  not  show  what  percent,  of  the  entire  mem- 
bership was  employed  even  at  the  best  time  during  the  winter;  nor  does  it 
show  what  percent,  of  these  members  secured  work  at  other  trades. 

The  extent  of  unemployment  is  indicated,  also,  by  a  comparison  of  the 
conditions  of  one  year  with  those  of  other  years.  Forty-six  firms  reported 
the  number  of  employees  in  the  winter  of  1911-12,  forty-three  firms  for  1910-11, 
and  forty-four  firms  for  1909-10;  the  average  number  of  employees  per  firm 
was  as  follows: 

1911-12 1,772 

1910-11     2,038 

1909-10 1,720 

-If  the  number  of  employees  per  average  firm  is  taken  as  100%,  the  decrease 
in  the  number  of  employees  in  1911-12  was  13%,  and  in  1909-10  it  was  15.6%. 
That  would  mean  that  if  they  did  not  secure  work  elsewhere,  13%  of  those 
employed  in  1910-11  were  unemployed  in  1911-12.  Fourteen  firms  reported 
that  they  employed  fewer  men  in  1911-12  than  in  1910-11,  the  total  number  by 
which  their  rolls  were  decreased  being  9,940;  seventeen  firms  reported  that 
they  employed  more  men  in  1911-12  than  in  1910-11,  the  total  number  by 
which  their  rolls  were  increased  being  only  2,728.  Though  more  firms  re- 
ported an  increased  number  of  employees  in  1911-12,  two  of  those  which  re- 
ported a  decrease  had  very  large  decreases — one  employed  5,044  fewer  in 
1911-12,  the  other  2,000  fewer. 

Nineteen  employers  reported  that  more  men  had  sought  employment  of 
them  in  1911-12  than  in  former  years,  twenty  employers  reported  that  no  more 
had  sought  employment. 

Twenty-three  unions  reported  that  the  number  of  unemployed  members 
in  1911-12  was  greater  than  usual;  four  unions  reported  that  it  was  not  greater 
than  usual. 

There  is  a  very  great  disparity  between  the  reports  from  employers  and 
the  reports  from  labor  unions  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  slack  or  part  time 
work.  Nine  firms  reported  that  they  were  closed  down  one  week  or  more 
(of  which  only  three  were  for  more  than  two  weeks);  one  other  firm  reported 
it  was  closed  down  for  three  days;  thirty-four  firms  reported  they  were  not 
closed  down  at  all  in  1911-12.  Ten  firms  reported  they  worked  part  time 
during  the  year;  thirty  that  they  did  not  work  part  time  at  all;  of  those  re- 
porting part  time  work,  the  following  number  of  days  was  given  it!  which 
there  was  part  time  work:  15,  19,  20,  52,  61,  72,  96,  96,  175,  215.  The  labor 
unions  reported  that  about  7.75  months  of  the  year  are  busy,  3.5  months  slack, 
and  1.5  months  are  periods  of  no  work.  (These  make  a  total  of  more  than 
twelve  months,  because  some  of  the  unions  reported  slack  seasons  and  no- 
work  seasons  together.) 


16 REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

These  figures  give  no  indication  of  the  absolute  number  of  persons  in 
Chicago  who  were  unemployed  at  any  one  time;  but  they  do  indicate  that 
unemployment  is  a  serious  problem  for  the  workmen  particularly,  and  that 
the  situations  which  result  in  unemployment  for  the  workmen  to  a  certain 
extent  mean  that  employers  are  unable  to  secure  employees  when  needed. 

The  Nature  of  Unemployment. — The  employers  were  asked  in  regard  to 
the  class  of  labor  which  was  most  subject  to  seasonal  fluctuations;  twenty- 
nine  employers  replied  to  this  question.  Seven  employers  reported  that  all 
classes  of  laborers  were  affected  equally;  sixteen  that  unskilled  labor  is  most 
subject  to  fluctuations  of  work;  the  others  gave  special  classes  of  workers 
peculiar  to  their  industries.  This  does  not  mean  that  these  individuals  fail 
to  retain  their  work  because  they  are  lacking  in  skill;  it  means  that  the  class 
of  work  which  does  not  require  skill  is  most  capable  of  expansion  and  con- 
traction, and  therefore  the  workers  in  that  part  of  the  plant  are  most  subject 
to  unemployment.  This  is  substantiated  by  the  fact  that  all  but  two  of  the 
employers  stated  that  their  employees  were  generally  reasonably  skilled, 
intelligent,  steady  and  sober.  Unemployment  is  not  due  to  the  individual's 
lack  of  skill,  but  to  the  economic  system  which  demands  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  industry  and  to  the  fact  that  the  part  of  the  work  which  requires 
little  or  no  skill  is  the  point  at  which  the  contraction  or  expansion  can  most 
easily  come. 

Three  employers  reported  that  they  found  common  labor  most  scarce, 
twenty  reported  that  they  found  common  labor  over-supplied;  fifteen  employ- 
ers reported  that  they  found  skilled  labor  scarce,  two  that  they  found  it  over- 
supplied;  eleven  employers  reported  that  they  found  no  kind  of  labor  scarce, 
five  that  they  found  no  kind  over-supplied.  This  difference  is  partly,  at  least, 
due  to  maladjustments  in  the  labor  market;  the  fact  that  some  employers  find 
skilled  labor  scarce  and  others  find  it  over-supplied  may  be  due  to  the  differ- 
ences in  the  kinds  of  skill  required;  but  the  fact  that  some  employers  found 
common  labor  scarce  and  others  found  it  over-supplied  can  be  accounted  for, 
probably,  only  by  lack  of  organization  of  the  labor  market. 

The  Effects  of  Unemployment. — The  effect  of  unemployment  will  depend 
somewhat,  though  not  entirely,  on  whether  the  person  has  a  surplus  which 
will  carry  him  until  work  can  be  found,  and  on  whether  his  wages  are  suffi- 
ciently high  to  furnish  him  a  decent  living  through  the  year,  after  the  allow- 
ance has  been  made  for  the  average  period  of  unemployment. 

Nineteen  of  the  forty-six  employers  failed  to  state  whether  their  employees 
have  surplus  funds;  one  replied  that  they  did  not,  six  replied  unreservedly  that 
they  did,  twenty  replied  that  some  of  them  do.  One  of  these  employers  stated 
that  his  employees  own  and  operate  a  savings  bank,  in  which  they  have  sav- 
ings, to  the  amount  of  $40,000. 

Twenty-five  labor  unions  replied  in  regard  to  the  surplus  funds  of  their 
members;  eleven  replied  that  very  few  of  their  members  had  a  surplus,  seven 
that  some  of  their  members  had,  one  that  the  members  had  no  surplus,  two 
that  they  had  a  surplus,  one  that  the  majority  are  buying  homes,  one  that 
20%  of  the  members  own  their  own  homes,  and  one  that  almost  all  own  prop- 
erty. 

Both  sets  of  replies  give  very  indefinite  information  in  regard  to  the  sur- 
plus funds  of  workingmen;  the  only  conclusion  is  that  some  employees  have 
funds  to  carry  them  over  periods  of  unemployment  and  some  do  not;  there  is 
no  indication  of  the  relative  proportion  of  the  two  groups.  Only  one  of  the 
unions  pays  any  out-of-work  benefits  to  the  unemployed. 

More  definite  information  is  secured  by  contrasting  the  actual  earnings 
of  the  average  member  with  his  possible  earnings  if  steadily  employed.  In 
the  year  1911  the  average  member  in 

4  unions  lost    less     than       9.9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 

3  unions  lost  from   10   to   19.9%  of  his  possible  earnings, 

4  unions  lost  from  20  to  29.9%  of  his  possible  earnings, 
6  unions  lost  from  30  to   39.9%  of  his  possible  earnings, 

0  unions  lost   from  40  to  49.9%  of  his  possible  earnings, 
4  unions  lost  from   SO  to   59.9%  of  his  possible  earnings, 

1  union     lost  from  60  to  69.9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 17 

None  of  the  members  of  these  unions  would  receive  less  than  $700  a  year 
at  their  trades  if  they  worked  full  time;  but,  actually,  the  average  member 
in  40.9%  of  those  reporting  received  less  than  $700  from  his  trade.  This  does 
not  take  account  of  the  wages  that  might  have  been  received  from  other  em- 
ployment than  in  their  own  trades. 

Causes  of  Unemployment. — Thirty-two  employers  answered  the  question 
in  regard  to  the  reasons  for  the  fluctuations  in  the  number  of  employees 
within  the  year;  of  these  twelve  gave  "seasons"  as  the  cause,  eight  gave  "busi- 
ness fluctuations,"  six  gave  "lack  of  orders,"  and  six  gave  -special  reasons,  It 
is  possible  that  "seasons,"  "lack  of  orders,"  and  "business  fluctuations"  mean 
the  same  thing. 

Twenty-seven  labor  unions  replied  to  the  question  in  regard  to  the  gen- 
eral cause  of  unemployment;  general  business  depression  or  lack  of  work 
was  given  in  eight  answers,  seasons  in  six  answers,  inefficiency  of  workers, 
migration  to  the  city  and  machinery  each  in  three  answers;  long  hours  during 
rush  seasons  in  two  answers;  seven  other  miscellaneous  answers  were  made. 

Fifteen  employers  gave  reasons  for  the  increased  number  of  persons  ap- 
plying for  work  in  1911-12;  the  reasons  were  as  follows:  slack  business  in 
other  plants,  11;  cold  weather,  2;  inferior  help,  1;  increase  in  capacity  of 
plant,  1;  and  strike,  1.  Twenty-one  labor  unions  gave  reasons  for  the  in- 
creased amount  of  unemployment  in  1911-12;  eight  gave  severe  weather  as 
the  reason,  three  gave  strikes,  two  gave  unemployment  in  other  industries, 
two  gave  the  general  business  depression,  one  gave  each  of  the  following: 
migration  to  city,  over-production,  jurisdictional  disputes,  political  uncer- 
tainty, long  hours,  and  letting  contracts  out  of  the  city. 

It  is  sometimes  stated  that  the  methods  of  payment  of  wages  result  in 
unemployment  or  in  making  it  impossible  for  the  unemployed  to  take  work 
offered.  Twenty-eight  firms  pay  weekly,  fifteen  semi-monthly,  three  monthly, 
and  one  three  times  a  month.  Thirty  firms  pay  in  cash,  fourteen  by  check  and 
two  firms  use  both  cash  and  check.  Thus,  over  one-third  of  the  employers 
pay  no  more  frequently  than  semi-monthly;  such  infrequent  payments  would 
make  it  impossible  for  an  unemployed  person  to  take  work  unless  he  had  some 
funds,  or  unless  the  firm  had  some  method  of  helping  needy  new  employees. 
Four  employers  failed  to  reply  in  regard  to  their  system  of  helping  needy  new 
employees;  twenty-five  replied  that  they  had  no  system;  seventeen  that  they 
had  systems  as  follows:  employees  draw  on  account  in  nine  cases,  one  makes 
loans  to  the  employees,  one  makes  loans  to  be  repaid  in  small  instalments 
without  interest,  the  savings  bank  mentioned  above  makes  loans  to  the  em- 
ployees, one  gives  lunch  tickets  for  which  the  cost  is  deducted  from  the  wages, 
one  has  a  boarding  house  and  one  a  commissary  department,  one  makes  pay- 
ment for  reasonable  time  when  an  employee  is  sick,  and  one  did  not  specify 
his  system.  Most  of  these  methods  seemed  designed  to  aid,  not  the  needy 
new  employee,  but  the  regular  employees. 

The  employment  of  women  is  sometimes  assigned  as  a  cause  of  unem- 
ployment; according  to  the  reports  of  employers  in  only  six  cases  out  of 
thirty-six  replying  did  women  do  work  which  was  formerly  done  by  men; 
the  extent  of  such  displacement  is  not  indicated. 

Actual  Methods  Used  to  Secure  Help. — Individual  application  at  the  plant 
is  by  far  the  most  prevalent  method  used  by  employers  to  secure  help;  forty- 
three  employers  reported  that  this  method  was  used,  one  that  it  was  not  used, 
and  one  that  it  was  used  sometimes.  Sixteen  employers  stated  that  they  used 
the  newspapers  to  secure  help,  sixteen  replied  that  they  did  not  use  the  news- 
papers, and  thirteen  replied  that  they  used  newspapers  for  this  purpose  some- 
times. Five  employers  replied  that  they  use  private  employment  offices, 
thirty-six  that  they  do  not  use  such  means,  and  four  that  they  do  sometimes. 
Four  employers  replied  that  they  use  the  public  employment  office,  thirty-nine 
that  they  do  not  use  such  means,  and  two  that  they  use  them  sometimes. 
Twenty-three  firms  replied  that  they  used  the  recommendations  of  employees, 
six  that  they  did  not,  and  sixteen  that  they  did  sometimes. 

Actual  Method  of  Securing  Employment. — In  eleven  cases  the  labor 
unions  reported  that  individual  application  is  used  as  the  principal  means  of  secur- 
ing employment;  ten  of  the  twenty-nine  unions  reporting  had  employment  offices, 


18 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

which  were  used  by  the  members ;  in  one  of  these  the  member  was  not  allowed  to 
look  for  work  for  himself,  but  the  union  furnishes  him  the  work.  In  addition  to 
this  formal  organization,  the  union  serves  as  an  informal  meeting  place  where 
the  unemployed  member  may  receive  information  in  regard  to  vacancies  from  those 
members  who  are  working  at  the  time. 

Attitude  of  Employers  and  Labor  Unions  Toward  an  Efficient  System 
of  Free  State  Employment  Exchanges. — Thirty  employers  stated  their  atti- 
tude toward  such  a  system,  as  follows:  six  stated  that  they  did  not  know, 
or  were  not  prepared  to  state  their  attitude,  fifteen  declared  themselves  favor- 
ably disposed  toward  such  a  system,  two  that  they  were  favorably  disposed 
to  it  in  some  respects,  only  one  was  openly  opposed  to  it,  five  doubted  whether 
such  a  system  would  be  useful  in  their  particular  line  of  work,  though  they 
did  not  state  any  opposition  to  the  system  in  general;  one  stated  that  he 
doubted  whether  employment  agencies  could  discriminate  in  help  before  rec- 
ommending them.  Nineteen  employers  stated  without  qualification  that  they 
would  patronize  such  exchanges  if  recommended  by  the  Commission;  nine 
replied  with  different  degrees  of  qualification,  but  in  general,  favorably;  one 
employer  replied  that  he  would  use  them  if  his  own  employment  office  could 
not  supply  the  demands,  one  that  it  was  not  necessary  in  his  business,  and 
one  that  he  would  probably  not  use  them  because  he  required  skilled  help; 
the  other  sixteen  employers  did  not  express  themselves  in  regard  to  patron- 
age.. 

Twenty-two  unions  replied  in  regard  to  their  attitude  toward  an  efficient 
system  of  state  employment  exchanges,  as  follows:  eleven  replied  that  they 
would  favor  such  exchanges,  eight  that  they  would  not  favor  them,  three  favor 
them  conditionally.  Eighteen  unions  answered  the  question  in  regard  to 
whether  their  members  would  patronize  such  exchanges;  eleven  state  that  they 
would,  three  that  they  would  conditionally,  and  four  that  they  would  not. 

Nature  and  Extent  of  Unemployment  in  Chicago. — In  order  to  de- 
termine some  facts  in  regard  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  unemployment 
in  Chicago,  two  questionnaires  were  prepared,  one  for  employers,  the 
other  for  labor  unions.  Replies  were  received  from  forty-six  industrial 
establishments,  and  from  thirty  labor  unions.  Since,  according  to  the  Census 
of  1910,  there  were  9,656  establishments  in  Chicago,  it  is  evident  that  the  re- 
plies from  these  forty-six  establishments  are  merely  illustrative.  But  these 
establishments  from  which  replies  were  received  employed  in  1910-11  on  the 
average  a  total  of  87,649  wage-earners  and  salaried  employees,  and  according 
to  the  Census  of  1910,  the  total  number  of  wage-earners  and  salaried  em- 
ployees in  Chicago  was  348,798;  the  questionnaire  which  was  sent  to  the  em- 
ployers, therefore,  included  a  little  over  25%  of  the  wage-earners  and  salaried 
employees  of  industrial  establishments  of  the  city;  that  is,  the  questionnaires 
were  sent  to  establishments  employing  the  largest  numbers  of  employees  in 
the  lines  in  which  they  were  working.  There  is  no  evidence  in  regard  to 
the  degree  to  which  replies  from  these  establishments  would  probably  be 
representative  of  other  establishments  of  the  city;  any  generalizations  from 
these  replies  will,  accordingly,  be  inaccurate,  or,  at  best,  only  guesses. 

The  labor  unions  from  which  replies  were  received  probably  fail,  also,  to 
represent  the  general  C9nditions  in  regard  to  unemployment;  the  labor  unions 
are  confined  almost  entirely  to  trades  requiring  skill;  their  replies  will,  there- 
fore, not  be  accurate  if  applied  to  workmen  without  skill.  Moreover,  the 
replies  from  the  labor  unions  are  confined  to  conditions  in  their  own  trades; 
a  member  of  a  union  is  reported  to  be  unemployed  at  his  trade  for  a  certain 
period,  but  there  is  no  evidence  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  work  he  secures 
outside  his  trade.  These  replies,  therefore,  are  descriptive  of  only  a  small 
part  of  the  occupations. 

No  evidence  is  at  hand  in  regard  to  the  total  number  of  men  unemployed 
in  any  year  or  at  any  one  time  in  the  year;  conditions  have  been  described, 
however,  from  which  it  is  evident  that  there  has  been  a  considerable  amount 
of  unemployment.  One  firm  employed  5,044  fewer  employees  in  1911-12  than 
in  1910-1911;  another  firm  employed  2,000  fewer  in  1911-12.  The  average 
decrease  in  the  number  of  employees  in  1911-12  for  these  firms  which  reported 
the  number  of  employees  was  13%.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  became  of 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT     M) 

these  men  who  were  engaged  one  year  and  unemployed  in  these  firms  the 
next  year;  they  have  been  employed  in  other  firms  in  the  city,  or  employed 
outside  the  city.  The  presumption  is  that  they  were  probably  unemployed ; 
one  half  of  the  establishments  had  more  men  seeking  work  in  1911-12  than 
in  former  years. 

A  question  was  asked  in  regard  to  the  number  of  establishments  which 
were  working  only  part  time;  this  was  answered  in  regard  to  the  establish- 
ment as  a  whole,  and  does  not,  therefore,  include  the  part  time  work  in  par- 
ticular departments  in  those  establishments  unless  the  entire  establishment 
is  working  part  time.  Ten  establishments  reported  that  they  worked  part 
time  for  more  than  two  weeks  in  the  year;  three  firms  were  entirely  closed 
down  for  more  than  two  weeks  in  the  year,  and  eight  firms  for  less  than  two 
weeks. 

Fifty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  employers  reported  that  they  could  always 
secure  all  the  help  they  wanted,  28%  that  they  could  generally  secure  all  the 
help  wanted,  9%  that  they  could  not  secure  all  the  help  wanted,  6%  that  they 
could  not  secure  enough  competent  help.  In  order  that  such  a  large  percent, 
of  the  employers  may  be  able  to  secure  all  the  help  they  want,  whenever  they 
want  it,  it  is  necessary  that  there  be  a  large  reserve  army  of  workingmen,  who, 
in  the  time  between  demands,  are  unemployed  a  considerable  part  of  the  time. 

Eleven  employers  reported  that  no  kind  of  labor  was  scarce,  fifteen  replied 
that  skilled  labor  was  scarce,  and  three  that  common  labor  was  scarce ;  five 
employers  reported  that  no  kind  of  labor  was  over-supplied,  two  replied  that 
skilled  labor  is  over-supplied,  and  twenty-two  that  common  labor  is  over- 
supplied. 

The  labor  unions  report  that  the  time  lost  by  the  average  member  at  his 
trade  was  about  three  months;  74%  of  the  unions  replying  reported  that  there 
were  at  all  times  of  the  year  some  of  their  members  unemployed;  69%  of  the 
unions  reported  that  unemployment  is  a  grave  problem  to  them;  the  general 
average  of  the  unions  shows  that  there  is  about  a  month  and  a  half  of  no 
work  at  the  trade  represented,  and  three  and  a  half  months  of  slack  work; 
about  50%  of  the  members  of  the  unions  have  work  the  entire  year.  Twenty- 
two  unions  reported  that  the  total  of  the  greatest  number  of  members  unem- 
ployed at  any  one  time  (that  time  differing  in  the  different  unions)  was  7,380. 

If  the  members  were  engaged  at  their  trades  full  time,  none  of  them  would 
receive  less  than  $700  a  year,  but,  actually,  the  members  in  nine  of  the  unions 
receive  less  than  $700  a  year,  and  in  seven  unions  receive  $600  or  less. 


20 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Number  of  Employees  in  Specified  Firms  and  Reasons  for  Leaving,  by 
years    1909-10   to    1911-12. 


Firm 
No. 

Average  number  of 
employees  during  winter  of 

Comparison  of  1911-12  with  former  years 
in  regard  to  number  of  men 

1911-12 

1910-11 

1909-10 

Quitting 
Voluntarily 

Discharged 
for  Cause 

Laid  off,  acct. 
Lack  of  Work 

1 

279 

321 

452 

Same 

Same 

Same 

2 

497 

473 

247 

Same 

Same 

— 

3 

560 

1,650 

1,445 

Same 

Same 

Same 

4 

3 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

5 

1,400 

1,400 

1,300 

Same 

Same 

Same 

6 

7,200 

7,400 

6,500 

— 

— 

— 

7 

150 

150 

140 

Same 

Same 

Same 

8 

814 

786 

768 

Same 

Same 

— 

9 

3,000 

2.75O 

2,500 

Same 

10%  more 

Same 

10 

956 

900 

830 

Same 

Same 

— 

11 

150 

120 

120 

Same 

Same 

Same 

12 

105 

105 

105 

— 

— 

— 

13 

170 

160 

155 

— 

—  • 

— 

14 

700 

— 

600 

— 

— 

— 

15 

2,856 

2,376 

2,404 

30%  less 

25%  less 

25%  greater 

16 

5,890 

5,247 

4,150 

Same 

Same 

— 

17 

16 

16 

16 

Same 

Same 

Same 

18 

4,773 

4,990 

4,886 

14%  less  than 

35%  less  than 

140    in    '11-12 

1910-11;    35% 

1910-11;    65% 

187    in    '10-11 

less  than  1909- 

less  than  1909- 

2    in    '09-10 

10 

10 

19 

864 

1,032 

829 

— 

— 

— 

20 

3,056 

2,926 

3,473 

Same 

Same 

Less 

21 

760 

911 

972 

10%  more 

Same 

8%  more 

22 

440 

440 

440 

Same 

Same 

Same 

23 

400 

450 

450 

Same 

Same 

— 

24 

1,200 

1,200 

1,200 

— 

— 

— 

25 

1,010 

1,004 

1,020 

Same 

Same 

Same 

26 

3,297 

3,808 

3,466 

More 

Less 

Less 

27 

80 

80 

80 

Same 

Same 

Same 

28 

450 

475 

490 

Same 

Same 

A  few  more 

29 

650 

650 

500 

Less 

Less 

More 

30 

330 

300 

285 

Less 

Less 

Less 

31 

185 

160 

150 

Same 

Less 

Same 

32 

1,721 

1,721 

1,721 

Same 

Same 

Same 

33 

120 

118 

115 

Less 

Same 

Same 

34 

115 

115 

115 

Same 

Same 

35 

8,595 

13,639 

9,366 

Same 

Same 

More 

36 

200 

210 

210 

50%  less 

75%  less 

Same 

37 

1,100 

1,000 

900 

Same 

Same 

— 

38 

8,800 

9,200 

7,500 

Same 

Same 

Same 

39 

348 

380 

385 

Same 

More 

More 

40 

5,792 

5,727 

5,410 

Same 

Same 

Less 

41 

200 

200 

200 

— 

— 

— 

42 

450 

215 

205 

Same 

Same 

Less 

43 

9,600 

11,600 

8,400 

Same 

Same 

Same 

44 

275 

275 

350 

Same 

Same 

Same 

45 

362 

— 

— 

Same 

Same 

Same 

46 

1,583 

969 

812 

Same 

Same 

Same 

These  numbers  are  generally  stated  as  estimates,  and  on  that  account 
there  is  considerable  possibility  of  error  in  the  comparison  of  the  totals.  Forty- 
six  firms  reported  that  in  the  winter  of  1911-12  they  employed  on  the  average 
81,502  men;  forty-three  firms  that  they  employed  during  the  winter  of  1910-11, 
87,649  men;  and  forty-four  firms  that  during  the  winter  of  1909-10  they  em- 
ployed 75,072  men.  The  average  number  employed  per  firm  would  be: 

Winter  of  No.  Employed 

1911-12 1,772 

1910-11  2,038 

1909-10 1,720 

Fourteen  firms  reported  that  they  employed  fewer  men  in  1911-12  than  in  1910- 
11,  the  total  number  by  which  their  rolls  were  decreased  being  9,940;  seventeen 
firms  reported  that  they  employed  more  men  in  1911-12  than  in  1910-11,  the 
total  number  by  which  their  rolls  were  increased  being  2,728.  Though  more 
firms  reported  an  increased  number  of  employees  in  1911-12,  two  of  those  which 
reported  a  decrease  had  very  large  decreases  in  the  numbers  of  employees; 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


21 


one  firm  employed  5,044  fewer  men  in  1911-12,  another  firm  employed  2,000 
fewer. 

Thirty  employers  stated  that  the  number  of  men  quitting  voluntarily  in 
1911-12  was  about  the  same  as  in  former  years,  two  that  they  were  more,  six 
that  they  were  less  and  eight  did  not  state.  One  of  the  employers  who  stated 
that  more  quit  voluntarily,  specified  the  increase  at  10%;  of  the  employers  re- 
porting a  decrease,  one  specified  the  decrease  at  30%,  one  at  50%,  and  one  that 
they  were  14%  less  than  in  1910-11  and  35%  less  than  in  1909-10. 

Twenty-eight  employers  stated  that  the  number  of  men  discharged  for 
cause  in  1911-12  was  about  the  same  as  in  former  years,  two  that  there  was  an 
increase,  seven  that  there  was  a  decrease,  and  nine  did  not  state.  Of  those 
stating  an  increase,  one  specified  10%;  of  those  stating  a  decrease,  one  speci- 
fied a  decrease  of  25%,  one  a  decrease  of  75%,  and  one  that  they  were  35% 
less  than  in  1910-11  and  65%  less  than  in  1909-10. 

Twenty  employers  stated  that  the  number  of  men  laid  off  in  1911-12  was 
about  the  same  as  in  former  years,  six  that  it  was  more,  six  that  it  was  less, 
and  fourteen  did  not  state.  Of  those  stating  an  increase  in  this  number,  one 
specified  8%,  and  one  25%;  one  firm  reported  that  140  had  been  laid  off  because 
of  lack  of  work  in  1911-12,  187  in  1910-11,  and  2  in  1909-10. 

Employers'  Replies  in  Regard  to  Time  Plants  Work  Full  Time,  Part  Time, 

and  Closed  Down,  and  Possibility  of  Transferring  Help  to  Other 

Departments  Instead  of  Discharging   Them. 


Firm 
No. 

Number  of  days  in  1911 
Plant  Worked 

If  busy  in  one  department  and  slack  in  another, 
is  it  possible  to  transfer  help  from  one  depart- 
ment to  another? 

Full 
Time 

Part 
Time 

Closed 
Down 

1 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

2 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

3 

125 

175 

0 

— 

4 

208 

0 

100 

— 

5 

305 

0 

0 

Yes,  we  follow  this  plan. 

6 

305 

— 

O 

— 

7 

305 

0 

0 

Yes,  we  follow  this  plan. 

8 

307 

52 

6 

Not  practical  in  our  work. 

9 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

10 

365 

0 

0 

Yes,  we  follow  this  plan. 

11 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

12 

305 

0 

0 

No. 

13 

305 

0 

0 

Yes,  we  follow  this  plan. 

14 

— 

— 

— 

No,  on  account  of  union. 

15 

305 

0 

0 

To  a  small  extent,  which  is  done. 

16 

365 

0 

0 

Yes. 

17 

312 

0 

0 

No. 

18 

278 

20 

8 

Yes,  this  has  been  our  policy  for  years. 

19 

305 

— 

3 

Only  unskilled  help. 

20 

263 

19 

31 

Sometimes. 

21 

80% 

20% 

0 

To  some  extent. 

22 

— 

Yes. 

23 

305 

0 

0 

Yes,  sometimes. 

24 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

25 

365 

0 

0 

Not  ordinarily. 

26 

305 

0 

0 

Yes,  when  qualified. 

27 

208 

96 

0 

No. 

28 

290 

15 

0 

Yes. 

29 

295 

— 

10 

No. 

30 

305 

— 

0 

No,  on  account  of  union. 

31 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

32 

365 

0 

0 

This  is  done  when  possible. 

33 

300 

0 

0 

No. 

34 

305 

0 

0 

No. 

35 

302 

0 

10 

We  take  every  step  to  do  so. 

36 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

37 

307 

0 

O 

Yes,  to  an  extent. 

38 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

39 

208 

96 

12 

No,  a  painter  cannot  take  place  of  a  blacksmith. 

40 

305 

0 

0 

Yes,  to  some  extent. 

41 

305 

0 

0 

We  do. 

42 

305 

0 

8 

Not  to  any  extent. 

43 

305 

0 

0 

Such  action  is  taken  whenever  possible. 

44 

241 

72 

6 

To  a  certain  extent,  which  we  do. 

45 

305 

0 

0 

Yes. 

46 

0 

215 

90 

No.  except  ordinary  labor. 

Three  hundred  and  five  days  is  taken  here  as  full  time,  unless  stated 
otherwise  in  the  replies;  some  of  the  replies  seem  to  include  holidays  and 
Sundays  in  the  column  "closed  down";  others  do  not. 


22 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Only  ten  of  these  firms  report  that  they  worked  part  time  for  any  appre- 
ciable number  of  days;  and  only  three  firms  that  they  were  entirely  closed 
down  for  more  than  two  weeks  in  the  year;  eight  firms  reported  that  they 
were  closed  down  for  less  than  two  weeks.  The  reports  on  part  time  work 
were  undoubtedly  made  for  the  factory  or  plant  as  a  whole;  but  it  is  well 
known  that  a  plant  may  be  working  part  time  in  one  department,  while,  as  a 
whole,  it  is  working  full  time.  These  reports  can  not,  therefore,  be  taken  as 
evidence  of  the  amount  of  unemployment  or  underemployment  resulting  from 
part  time  work. 

Thirty  employers  reported  that  it  is  possible  to  transfer  men  from  one 
department  to  another  instead  of  discharging  them;  eleven  of  these  reported 
that  they  are  following  that  policy  at  present;  the  others  did  not  state  whether 
they  are  doing  so.  Thirteen  employers  replied  that  it  is  not  possible  to  do  so; 
differences  in  skill  and  union  regulations  are  given  as  the  reasons  for  the  im- 
possibility. 

Reasons  for  Fluctuations  in  Number  of  Employees,  and  Causes  of  Closing 
Down  Plant  Part  of  Year. 


fl 

Reasons  for  fluctuations  in   No. 
of  Employees 

Class     of     labor     in 
which     fluctuations 
most    noticeable 

Reason     for     closing' 
down    part    of    the 
year 

1 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 

16 
17 
18 

19 

20 
21 

22 

23 

24 
25 

26 

27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 

33 
34 

35 
36 
37 
38 
39 

40 
41 
42 

43 
44 
45 
46 

Holidays. 

Stock-taking   and 
heat    last    summer. 
Lack   of   work. 
Commercial. 
Holidays. 

Holidays. 
Holidays. 
Holidays. 
Slack    business. 

Holidays. 

Inventory      and      re- 
pairs. 
Holidays. 

Holidays,    repair,    in- 
ventory. 

Inventory. 
No   orders. 

Lack  of  work  

Lack  of  orders  

Normal    increase    in    business.... 
Seasons   and   special    sales  

Awning    hangers    .  .  . 
Printers 

Din"     in    advertising  

Installation   and   out- 
side       construction 
men  

Foreigners     

Unskilled 

Variations  in  demand  for  goods. 

All    alike     

Production    Depts.    .  . 
Packing      force      and 
work  room    operat- 
ors      

Waiters,           cleaners 
and    chambermaids. 
Union  members   

Strike  and  business  fluctuations. 

Seasonal   demand   for   goods  
Variations    in    business  T'ho   inefficient 

Construction     work     stopped     in 
winter;     stove     men     only      in 

Those    on    the    work 
of  construction  and 
tending    stoves    .  .  . 

O  r  d  c  r      fillers      and 
packers     

' 

Common    labor    

Seasonal    orders    

Seasonal   orders    

Unskilled 

Varying   supply   of  live   stock... 

Slaughtering    gangs. 

Structural     iron     and 
steel     i 

Unskilled    ...            .  . 

General 

All    classes 

REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


23 


The  causes  for  fluctuations  in  the  number  of  employees  are  given  as  fol- 
lows: Seasons,  12;  business  fluctuations,  8;  lack  of  orders,  6;  receipt  of  live 
stock,  2;  special  sales,  1;  rebuilding  plant,  1;  advertising,  1;  and  strike,  1.  It 
may  be  that  "lack  of  orders,"  "seasons,"  "business  fluctuations,"  "receipt  of 
live  stock,"  etc.,  overlap  very  considerably,  and  that  they  are  only  different 
names  for  the  same  thing.  The  seasons  have  an  influence  in  determining  the 
number  of  employees  by  preventing  out-door  work,  by  determining  demands 
or  orders,  and  by  determining  the  supply  of  raw  material. 

These  employers  report  in  se-ven  cases  that  all  classes  of  employees  are 
affected  equally,  sixteen  that  the  unskilled  or  common  labor  is  most  af- 
fected, four  that  the  outdoor  workers  are  most  affected,  and  the  others  give 
special  classes  of  work  peculiar  to  their  industries. 

The  reasons  for  closing  down  the  plant  part  of  the  year  are  given  as  fol- 
lows: holidays,  8;  inventory,  4;  business  fluctuations,  3;  repairs,  2;  heat,  1.  The 
others  either  replied  that  they  were  not  closed  down  at  all,  or  else  made  no 
reply  to  this  question. 


Comparison  of  Number   of  Men   Seeking   Employment  from   Specified   Em- 
ployers in  1911-12  with  Former  Years,  with  Reasons. 


Did      more      men 
S  ..;           seek     work     in 
ig          1911-12      than 
b               formerly 

Reasons  for  increase 

1       NO    

Slack  work  in   building   industries. 

Great   number   out   of   work. 
Great   number  out  of  work   in   other  lines. 
Inferior   help. 

No.    of   unemployed    in    other   houses. 

Lack   of  work,   desire  to   better   their   condition. 
Lack    of    work    elsewhere. 

Strike. 

Lack   of  work   in  other  plants. 
Lack  of  work   in  other  plants. 
Slackness   in    other   industries,    cold   winter. 
Lack  of  work  in  their    own    trades. 

Lack  of  work  in  other   lines,   severe   winter. 
More   men   out   of  work. 
Our   increased   capacity. 

2       NO                   

3       No        

4       — 
5       Yes          

6       No            .  .  .  :  

7       Yes          

8       Yes        

9       Yes              

10       Yes              

11       NO    

12       No    

13       Yes    

14       — 

jg       

lg       NO                 

17       No      

18       Yes    

19       Yes          

20       No   

21       Yes                     

22       No   

23       Yes    

24       — 
25       No                   

26       Yes    

27       No        

28       No    

29       Yes    

30       Yes    

31       Yes    

32       Yes    

33       — 
34       NO        

35       No   

36       Yes        .  .           .... 

37       — 
38       No   

39       Yes    

40       No   

41       — 
42       Yes    

43       Yes    

44       No    

45       No        

46       No   

24 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Nineteen  employers  reported  that  more  men  had  sought  work  in  1911-12 
than  in  former  years,  twenty  that  no  more  had  sought  work,  seven  did  not 
reply  to  this  question. 

By  fifteen  employers  who  gave  reasons  for  the  increase  in  the  number  of  men 
seeking  employment  the  increase  was  explained  as  follows :  slack  business  in  other 
plants,  11;  cold  weather,  2;  inferior  help,  1;  increased  capacity  of  plant,  1;  strike,  1. 

Methods  of  Payment  of  Employees. 


So 

Ez 

Frequency    of    pay- 
ment 

Form    of    pay- 
ment 

Reasons  for  method   of  payment 

i 

Check    

More    convenient,    less    chance    of    er- 

2 

Check    

ror. 
Safer. 

j 

Check            .  .    . 

Convenience    in    accounting. 

4 

Weekly                

Cash               .... 

Prevents  cashing  checks  in  saloons. 

5 

Semi-monthly    

Cash    

6 

Semi-monthly    

Check    

Convenience   for   employees   and   our- 

7 

"Weekly                              . 

Cash         

selves. 
More   convenient. 

g 

Weekly    

Cash     

Most     practical     for     average     wage- 

9 

Weekly    

Cash         

earner. 

j  2-3    weekly    

Cash         

I 

10 

1  1  -3   monthly      ........ 

Check     

11 

Weekly    

Check 



1? 

Weekly    

Cash     

— 

T» 

Weekly    

Cash     

They  prefer  cash,  no  difference  to  us. 

14 

Weekly        

Check 

Receipt. 

T> 

Semi-monthly    

Check        .    . 

Men   are  too   scattered  to  make   pay- 

16 

Semi-monthly    

Cash             

ment  in  cash. 

17 

Semi-monthly    

Check 



18 

"Weekly    

Cash             .  . 

Best  for  the  employees. 

19 

Weekly    

Cash             .  . 

For   their   convenience. 

flO 

Three  times  a  month. 

Check     

fl1 

Weekly    

Cash     

More    satisfactory    to    employees. 

?,?, 

Semi-monthly     

Check    

For  our  convenience. 

?3 

Weekly    

Cash    

P'or  our  convenience. 

84 

Weekly    

Cash    

Employees   prefer   it. 

flR 

Monthly§     

Cash    

Customary   in   our  line. 

26 

Monthly     

Check    

Convenience. 

?7 

Weekly  

Cash 



?8- 

Weekly    

Cash    



?9 

Weekly    

Cash     

Fairer  and  more  convenient  for  men. 

3ft 

Weekly    

Cash    

Men    prefer   cash. 

31 

Weekly   

Cash    

They   need   the  money. 

3? 

Semi-monthly     

Cash    

More  popular   with   men. 

33 

Weekly    

Cash    

More  convenient. 

34 

Weekly   

Cash    

35 

Semi-monthly    .     ... 

Check    

Checks  useful  for  identification. 

36 

Weekly    

Cash    

37 

Weekly   

Cash     

Convenience  of  both  parties. 

38 

Semi-monthly    . 

Cash     

39 

Weekly    

Cash    

Avoid  cashing  checks  in  saloons. 

40 

Semi-monthly    

Check    

Most   satisfactory  method. 

41 

Weekly    

Cash    

4?! 

Semi-monthly    

Both     

Established  system. 

43 

Weekly    

Cash    

More    convenient   for   men. 

44 

Weekly    

Cash     

More    convenient   for   men. 

45 

Weekly   

Cash     

46 

Semi-monthly    

Check    

Because  of  location  of  plant  not  feas- 

ible to  express  cash   for   payment. 

§With  privilege  of  drawing. 

Twenty-eight  firms  pay  weekly,  fifteen  semi-monthly,  three  monthly, 
and  one  three  times  a  month ;  thirty  firms  pay  in  cash,  fourteen  by 
check,  and  two  firms  use  both  check  and  cash.  The  reasons  for  the 
method  of  payment  are  given  as  follows:  More  convenient  for  men  11,  more 
convenient  for  employers  5,  more  convenient  5,  more  convenient  for  both  parties  2, 
custom  2,  prevent  cashing  checks  in  saloons  3,  for  accuracy,  receipts,  signatures,  etc.,  5. 
Of  those  who  stated  that  their  method  was  for  the  convenience  of  the  men  all  except  one 
made"  payment  weekly  in  cash — that  one  made  payments  semi-monthly  in 
cash. 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


25 


Female    Help    in    Certain    Plants. 


Firm 
No. 

Female  Help  Employed 

Number 
of  married 
women 
employed 

.  To   what   extent   are 
women  employed  at 
work  formerly  done 
by  men? 

Reasons 

No. 

Class  of  Work 

1 

0 

— 

0 

— 



2 

0 

— 

0 

— 

— 

3 

0 

— 

0 

— 

— 

4 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

5 

0 

— 

0 

— 

— 

6 

800 

Canning,  sausage,  beef  ex- 

— 

Work   formerly   done 

tract,  tin  shop. 

mostly  by  boys. 

7 

50 

Office  work. 

4 

None. 

— 

8 

4 

Office  work. 

0 

None. 

— 

9 

1,600 

Office  work  and  salesladies 

— 

None. 

— 

10 

34 

Stenographers  and  switch- 

board. 

0 

None. 

— 

11 

0 

— 

0 

— 

— 

12 

20 

Book  binding. 

0 

None. 

— 

13 

75 

Office    and    sewing    ma- 



Office   work,    mailing 

— 

chines. 

clerks,  etc. 

14 

125 

All    publishing    work,    ex- 

32 

A  few  bookkeepers. 

Machines. 

cept     mechanical     and 

composing. 

15 

50 

Clerical. 

2 

None. 

— 

16 

5,700 

Operating,  clerical,  lunch 

Small 

None. 

— 

room. 

per  cent. 

17 

0 

— 

0 

— 

— 

18 
19 

250 
300 

Coremakers. 
Bindery,       press-  feeders, 
copy-holders. 

0 

None. 
None  except  on  presses 

Took    the 
place  of 

strikers. 

20 

1,462 

Manufacturing    and    as- 

227 

None. 

sembling. 

21 

128 

Soap  wrapping,  can  mak- 

0 

None. 

— 

ing. 

22 

§350 

Trimming,  selling,  clerical 

— 

None. 

— 

23 

5 

Stenographers. 

0 

None. 

— 

24 

300 

Stenographers,  typists,  fil- 

6 

— 

Better    at 

ing  and  catalog  work. 

routine 

work. 

25 

300 

Clerks,  laundry,  cleaners, 

30 

None. 



maids,  office. 

26 

6 

Stenographers    and    car 

6 

None. 

— 

cleaners. 

27 

0 

— 

0 

— 

— 

28 

15 

Stenographers  and  clerks 

1 

None. 

— 

29 

20 

Coremakers  and  fruit  pre- 

— 

— 

— 

servers. 

30 

25 

Bindery. 

— 

None. 

— 

31 

7 

Office. 

1 

None. 

— 

32 

73 

Station  agents. 

4 

None. 

— 

33 

3 

Store  and  office. 

0 

— 

— 

34 

— 

Office  and  store. 

— 

None. 

— 

35 

52 

Office,   seamstresses   and 

3 

Ten. 

Adaptabil- 

glass workers. 

ity  in  office. 

36 

28 

Packers. 

0 

None. 

— 

37 

1,100 

Box-making. 

20 

Very  slight. 

— 

38 

4,400 

Clerical,    bindery,    stock 

Few 

None. 

and  sales. 

— 

39 

20 

Sewing  machines,  pasting. 

— 

None. 

etc. 

— 

40 

300 

Butterine,    soap,    sausage, 

— 

None. 

— 

smokehouse. 

41 

100 

Packing. 

— 

None. 

— 

42 

3 

Stenographers. 

1 

None. 

— 

43 

2,400 

Assembling,        machine 

— 

None  in  last  four  or 

— 

work,  clerical. 

five  years. 

44 

2 

Sewing  machines. 

o 

Two. 

More  ad- 

apted    to 
that  work. 

45 

223 

Office  and  machine  work. 

0 

None. 

— 

46 

15 

Stenographers,    telephone 

3 

None. 

— 

operators  and  restaurant. 

§75  to  350  at  various  seasons. 


Thirty-eight  employers  stated  that  it  is  their  custom  to  have  some  female 
employees,  seven  that  it  was  not  their  custom.     Thirty  employers  stated  that 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


they  employ  married  women,  fourteen  that  they  do  not  employ  married 
women;  in  most  cases  the  employers  were  unable  to  give  the  proportion  of 
their  female  employes  who  are  married.  There  are  seven  large  firms  in  which 
a  considerable  part  of  the  work  is  done  by  women;  in  the  other  firms,  the 
women  are  engaged  most  frequently  as  clerical  help,  salesladies,  etc.  In  only 
six  cases  did  the  employers  report  that  women  are  now  employed  at  work 
which  was  formerly  done  by  men;  the  reasons  for  such  employment  of  women 
in  two  cases  was  that  the  women  were  better  adapted  to  it,  in  one  case  that 
the  work  was  better  adapted  for  women,  in  one  case  that  by  the  aid  of  ma- 
chines the  women  could  do  work  formerly  done  by  men,  and  in  one  case  that 
women  had  taken  the  place  of  men  in  a  strike  several  years  ago  and  are  still 
retained;  the  other  did  not  assign  reasons.  With  these  few  exceptions,  the 
employers  state  that  women  have  not  taken  work  that  was  formerly  done  by 
men. 

Labor  Unions  in  Certain  Firms,  According  to  Employers. 


%<* 
£* 

Are  your  works  union- 
ized wholly,  partly  or 
neither? 

If    partly,     which    branches    are    unionized,    and 
which   are  not  unionized? 

1 

Neither    

2 

Neither    

3 

Neither    

• 

4 

Partly    

Skilled   mechanics   unionized 

5 

Neither    

6 

Partly    

Teamsters  and  bricklayers  unionized 

7 

Neither      

8 

Partly    

Drivers   and   truckmen   unionized'    wagon  factory 

9 

Neither        

general  branch,   and  clerical  not  unionized. 

10 

Partly        ... 

Drivers 

11 

Partly    

Teamsters. 

1? 

Partly    

Unionized    in    printing    and    binding    Dept  ;     not 

13 

Partly    

unionized    in   store   and   office. 
Teamsters    and    sailmakers    unionized'    all    others 

14 

Wholly    

not   unionized. 

15 

Partly    

Installation    work    in    buildings    under    construc- 

Iff 

Neither    

tion   unionized;   others  not. 

17 

Neither    

18 

Neither    

19 

Neither    

?0 

?1 

Partly    

Mechanical    Dept. 

">? 

Neither    

?3 

Practically  all   

Helpers  and  drillers  not  unionized 

?4 

Neither    

715 

Neither    



96 

Neither    



?,7 

Partly    

Steam    fitters    and    boiler    makers    unionized;    men 

'<? 

Neither 

in   shop   not   unionized. 

?9 

Partly    

Wood    workers,    sheet   metal   workers   and   marble 

30 

Wholly    

workers    unionized. 

31 

Neither    

3? 

Generally    

33 

Partly    

Bakers  and  drivers  unionized. 

34 

Neither    

3=> 

Neither    

36 

Neither    

37 
38 

Partly    

Printing   Depts    unionized. 

39 
40 
41 

Unionized,  but  open  shop. 
Neither    

4? 

Neither    

43 

Neither    

44 

Neither    

45 

Neither    

46 

Neither    

— 

Of  the  44  employers  replying  to  the  questions  of  whether  their  plants 
were  unionized  wholly,  partly,  or  neither.  26  stated  that  they  were  not  union- 
ized at  all,  13  that  they  were  partly  unionized,  and  4  that  they  were  wholly  or 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


27 


generally  unionized;  one  stated  that  his  plant  was  unionized,  but  it  was  open 
shop. 

The  information  is  not  definite  and  detailed  enough  to  learn  whether  there 
is  any  correlation  between  the  unions  and  the  unemployment  or  under-employ- 
ment  in  these  plants. 

Some  Characteristics  of  Employees  in  Certain  Plants. 


Firm 
No. 

Average 
Age  of 
Em- 
ployees 

Prevailing  Nationalities 

Are  your  employees 
reasonably  skilled, 
intelligent,  steady 
and  sober? 

Description  of  gen- 
eral   character    of 
the  employee. 

1 

35 

Amer.,  Pol.,  Lith.,  Greek. 

Yes 

_ 

2 

35 

Pol.,  Ger.,  Serv.,  Russ.,  Swed. 

Yes 

Good 

Irish,  Amer. 

3 

30 

Pol.,  Lith.,  Slavs. 

Yes 

— 

4 

35 

— 

Skilled  and  sober 

— 

5 

— 

American. 

Yes 

— 

6 

— 

Pol.,  Lith. 

Yes 

— 

7 

30 

American. 

Yes 

Good 

8 

31 

Nor.,  Swed.,  Danes,  Ger. 

Yes 

Generally  indus- 

trious,     ambi- 

tious,    honest. 

saving 

9 

— 

Amer.,  Ger.,  Irish,  Jews. 

Yes 

Average  good 

10 

28 

— 

Yes 

Good 

11 

35 

Pol.,  Irish. 

Varies  with  class 

of  work  performed 

12 

40 

American. 

Yes 

— 

13 

16-70 

Amer.,  Nor.,  Swed.,  Ger. 

Yes 

Generally  good 

14 

30 

— 

All  kinds 

Average  good 

15 

30 

Amer.,  Irish,  Ger. 

Yes 

— 

16 

16-25 

Irish-  American. 

Yes 

— 

17 

35 

Ger.,  Pol. 

Yes 

Good 

18 

35 

Amer.,     Ger.,     Aust.,      Pol., 

Yes 

Very  satisfactory 

Croat.,  Bohem.,  Russ. 

19 

35 

Ger.,    Eng.,    Irish,    Bohem., 

Yes 

Good,  rather  im- 

Pol. 

provident 

20 

35 

American. 

Yes 

Above  average 

21 

25 

Ital.,  Slavs,  Ger.,  Irish. 

Yes 

Permanent  men, 

good 

22 

33 

American. 

Yes 

Best  type  of  citizens 

23 

35 

— 

Yes 

Good 

24 

35 

Amer.,  Scand.,  Irish. 

Yes 

Good 

25 

30-35 

PoU,  Bohem.,  Amer. 

Yes 

— 

26 

— 

Eng.,  Hung.,  Pol.,  Ital.,  Ger., 

Yes 

About  average 

Swed. 

27 

— 

Swed.,  Pol. 

Yes 

— 

28 

28 

Amer.,     Pol.,     Lith.,     Greek, 

Yes 

— 

Irish,  Ger.,  Swed.,  Scotch. 

29 

40 

Swed.,  Ital. 

Yes 

Good 

30 

— 

— 

Yes 

— 

31 

30 

Ger.,  Pol. 

— 

Hard  working, 

little  surplus 

32 

30 

— 

Yes 

Average 

33 

30 

•  Germans. 

Yes 

— 

34 

— 

American. 

Yes 

— 

35 

35 

Amer.,     Swed.,     Nor.,     Ger., 

Yes 

High 

Aust.,       Poles,       Holland, 

Russ.,    Brit.,    Ital.,    Greek 

and  40  others. 

36 

20-40 

Swed.,  Ger.  and  Irish. 

Yes 

Faithful  and  indus- 

trious 

37 

18 

Pol.,  Bohem. 

Yes 

— 

38 

— 

American. 

Yes 

Very  best 

39 

30-35 

Amer.    (75%),    Ger.,    Scand., 

Yes 

The  older  men  are 

Greeks,  Poles,  Lith. 

steady  and  reliable 

40 

17-45 

Pol.,     Bohem.,     Ger.,     Slav., 

Yes 

Generally  sober  and 

Irish. 

reliable 

41 

25 

Ger.,  Ital. 

Yes 

Good 

i2 

30 

Ger.,    Pol.,    Bohem.,    Amer., 

Yes 

Moral,    temperate, 

Irish,  English. 

efficient 

43 

Male  28 

Amer.   (71%),  Ger.   (6%),  20 

Yes 

Majority     steady, 

Fern.  22 

other  nationalities. 

skilled,     temper- 

ate   and    intelli- 

gent 

44 

35 

Ger.,  Pol. 

Yes 

Good 

45 

22 

American. 

Yes 

Good 

46 

24 

Amer.,  Swed.,  Pol.,  Serv.  and 

Yes 

Majority    are    con- 

Hungar. 

stantly  changing 

work 

23 


REPORT  OF   THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Ave.  Ages. 
16-25    . 

No.  Firms 
1 

16-70       

1 

17-45    

1 

20-40    . 

1 

Ages:  The  ages  stated  in  most  cases  are  estimates  of  the  average  age  of 
the  employees;  these  average  ages  may  be  grouped  as  follows: 

Ave.  Ages.  No.  Firms 

18  1 

20-29   7 

30-39   24 

40-49   2 

This  shows  that  the  average  age  in  most  cases  is  in  the  ten  year  group, 
30-39. 

Nationality:  American  is  indicated  as  the  principal  nationality  in  20 
cases — of  which  one  specifies  75%  and  another  71%  as  the  portion  of  native 
born;  American  is  mentioned  4  other  times  as  one  of  the  principal  national- 
ities. German  is  given  as  the  principal  nationality  in  7  plants,  and  is  men- 
tioned among  the  other  nationalities  in  14  plants.  Polish  is  given  as  the 
principal  nationality  in  6  plants,  and  is  mentioned  among  the  other  national- 
ities in  14  other  cases.  If  the  rank  may  be  judged  in  this  way  by  the  number 
of  times  mentioned,  the  Irish,  Swedish,  Bohemian,  Italians,  Lithuanians,  Eng- 
lish, Greeks,  and  Norwegians  follow  in  order  after  that.  Twelve  other  nation- 
alities were  mentioned  in  three  plants  or  less. 

All  but  two  of  the  employers  indicated  that  their  employees  were  gener- 
ally reasonably  skilled,  intelligent,  steady  and  sober;  in  those  two  cases,  one 
stated  that  the  employees  were  of  all  kinds,  the  other  stated  that  these  char- 
acteristics varied  with  the  class  of  work  performed. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


29 


Surplus   Funds   of   Employees   and    Employers'    Methods   of   Helping    Needy 

New  Employes. 


Have  employees  on  the  average  any 
surplus  fund? 


Have  you  a  system  of  helping  needy 
new  employees? 


10 
11 

12 
13 

14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 


20 
21 
22 
23 
24 

25 

26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 


Only  a  small 
Yes     


Yea   

Many  own  homes,  drivers  have  $150 
deposited  as  security  

Great  many  have  homes  and  bank  ac- 
counts   

They  are  in  fair  shape 


The  better  class — yes;  rank  and  file 
spend  all  they  get 

Majority  of  them  have 

I  Most  have  savings,  part  homes 

We  have  $40,000  in  savings  bank 
owned  and  operated  by  employees; 
many  older  men  own  homes 

Yes   


As  a  rule 

Yes  

Great     many     own     homes;     majority 
have  savings  accounts 


No     

Yes    

Very    few    have    shares 

Older,  steady  men  have 

Many  of  older   employees   have. 


33  |  — 

34  |   A    few    own    homes,     some 

others    none 


35 
36 
37 
38 


savings, 
Very  large  number  own  homes 


A  few  own  homes,  25%  have  savings. 


39  I   About  one-third  do 

40  I  Great  many  have   homes  and   accts. . 

41  Many   have  homes 

42  About  15  %  of  them 


44 

45 
46 


Yes 


No. 
*o. 

Draw  on  account  if  necessary. 
Draw  on  account  if  necessary. 
STo,  not  necessary. 
No. 
Vo. 
No  special  system. 

Draw  on  account. 
No. 

No. 

No    special    system,    each    case    on    its 

own    merits. 
Pay   reasonable  time  when  sick. 


No. 
No. 
This  bank  loans  them  money. 


Operate  a  boarding  house. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

Allowed  to  draw  to  extent  on  amount 
earned. 

Yes,   to   limited   extent. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

Draw  on  account  If  desired. 

Lunch  tickets  issued  to  new  employ- 
ees and  cost  deducted  from  their 
pay. 

No. 

Frequently  make  loans  to  old  em- 
ployees to  be  repaid  in  small  in- 
stallments, no  interest. 

No. 

No. 

No,   but  we  loan  money  to  them. 

Advance  pay  to  new  employees  be- 
fore due. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

Commissary,  and  on  account  payment 
of  wages. 

Advanced  payment  of  wages  earned 
when  conditions  justify;  arrange- 
ments with  local  bank  for  loans  in 
reasonable  amounts. 

Advance  wages  in  urgent  cases. 

Advance  may  be  obtained  in  case  of 
sickness,  death  or  dire  distress. 


Nineteen  employers  failed  to  state  whether  or  not  their  employees  have 
reserve  funds,  one  replied  that  they  did  not,  six  replied  unreservedly  that  they 
do    and  twenty  replied  that  some  of  them  do;  one  employer  replied  that  his 
employees  own  and   operate  a  savings  bank,  in   which  they  have  savings   t 
the  amount  of  $40,000.  ,       ,   . 

Four  employers  failed  to  reply  in  regard  to  their  system  of  helping  needy 
new  employees,  twenty-five  replied  that  they  have  no  system,  and  seventeen 
replied  that  they  have  some  system;  of  those  who  replied  in  the  affirmative, 


30 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


nine  state  that  their  employees  may  draw  on  account,  one  makes  loans  to 
employees,  one  makes  loans  to  be  repaid  in  small  installments  without  inter- 
est, the  savings  bank  mentioned  above  makes  loans  to  the  employees,  one 
gives  lunch  tickets  for  which  the  cost  is  deducted  from  wages,  one  has  a 
boarding  house  and  one  a  commissary  department,  one  makes  payment  for 
reasonable  time  when  an  employee  is  sick,  and  one  did  not  specify  what  his 
system  is.  Most  of  these  methods  seem  to  be  designed  for  the  regular  steady 
employee,  rather  than  for  the  new  employee  who  may  be  in  temporary  need. 

Labor   Supply. 


^o 

Can    you    always    get    all    the 

Kind  o 

f  labor. 

k* 

help  you  want? 

Scarce. 

Over-supplied. 

1 

Nearly  always   

Skilled    

2 

Yes      

Skilled    

3 

Generally   

Common  labor  

understand        Eng- 
lish. 

None 

4 

Yes    

5 

Have  little  difficulty  

£ 

Yes               

7 

Yes  

g 

Yes  

None     

Unskilled 

9 

Not  competent  

Good  salespeople    ... 

Manual  labor 

10 

Yes         

11 
12 

Yes                 '  

— 

— 

13 

No  

Sail-makers,       good 

The     incompetent     in 

awning        hangers, 
salespeople,    good 
boys     

all    lines. 

14 

Not  of  the  kind  we  want  

15 

None    

Unskilled 

16 

Yes  

17 

Yes  

None    

General  laborers 

18 

Yes       

First-class  trades- 

Male  help,  ages  19-35 

men   

who  are  not  adapt- 

19 

Never  all  the  skilled  help;  plenty 

Skilled  pressmen,  en- 

ed    to    any    special 
line  of  work. 
Unskilled. 

binders,  etc  

20 

Yes            

Skilled    .    . 

Unskilled 

21 

Yes   

22 

Skilled    makers    and 

Unskilled 

designers  

23 

None    

24 

Boys  about  16            .  . 

25 

Yes             

Unskilled 

26 

97 

Yes  .  ,  

28 

Yes     

English    speaking 

helpers    

29 

Marble  workers    .... 

30 

Skilled    

31 

No                      

Good  skillful  men... 

32 

Except  after  heavy  snow  storms. 

None    

Skilled   mechanics 

33 

Yes  

None    

Bakers 

34 

Yes     

Skilled    packers    .... 

35 

Comm6n  labor  

36 

Yes                                  

37 

No                

Experienced    girls 

38 

None    

skilled    girls. 
Common   labor 

39 

Yes       

Skilled    

Unskilled  laborers 

40 

Yes  

Skilled    

Common  labor 

41 

Yes  

42 

Yes                

None    

Laborers 

43 

Skilled  labor  at 

Unskilled 

times     

44 

Yes                                 

None    

Common  labor 

45 

Yes                               

46 

No    

Ordinary    labor,     and 

None. 

wood  car  builders. 

REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


In  reply  to  the  question  "Can  you  always  get  all  the  help  you  want?"  26 
employers  stated  that  they  could,  4  employers  that  they  could  not,  13  that 
they  generally  could  secure  all  they  wanted,  three  that  they  could  not  secure 
competent  help,  and  one  failed  to  reply.  Thus,  about  85%  of  the  employers 
reported  that  they  could  always  or  almost  always  secure  all  the  help  they 
wished,  and  about  9%  that  they  could  not  secure  all  the  help  they  wished, 
and  6%  that  they  could  not  secure  all  the  competent  help  they  wished.  From 
this  it  is  evident  that  unemployment  is  principally  a  problem  for  the  working- 
man,  but  that  it  is  to  some  degree  a  problem  for  the  employer,  since  some  of 
them  found  difficulty  in  getting  enough  help. 

The  following  table  summarizes  the  replies  in  regard  to  the  kinds  of  labor 
scarce  and  over-supplied: 


Kind  of  Labor 


Number  of  Employers  Replying: 


Scarce 

Over-supplied 

Common   labor    

3 

22 

Skilled  labor   

15 

2 

None  

11 

5 

Clerical    

1 

2 

2 

English-speaking   helpers    

1 

2 

Incompetent    in    all    lines  

2 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  there  is  some  over-lapping;  three  firms 
could  not  always  find  enough  common  labor,  twenty-two  firms  were  over-sup- 
plied with  it;  fifteen  firms  did  not  always  have  a  sufficient  supply  of  skilled 
labor,  two  firms  found  that  kind  of  labor  over-supplied.  There  is  not  a  great 
discrepancy  between  these  two;  but  it  indicates  to  some  extent  the  lack  of 
control  of  the  labor  market,  and  the  possibility  that  in  one  part  of  the  city 
there  may  be  an  over-supply  of  a  particular  kind  of  labor,  and  a  scarcity  of 
the  same  kind  of  labor  in  another  part  of  the  city. 

Methods  Used  by  Employers  to  Secure  Help. 


Firm 
No. 

Public 
Employ- 
ment 
Agency 

Private 
Employ- 
ment 
Agency 

News- 
papers 

Applica- 
tion 
at 
Plant 

Recom- 
menda- 
tion of 
employees 

Reasons  for  Choice 

1 

— 

— 

— 

Yes 

Yes 

Good  men  do  not  need  to  go 

to  employment  agencies  or 

papers. 

2 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Picked  by  foremen. 

3 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No  preference. 

4 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Largely 

— 

5 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Better  selection. 

6 

— 

— 

Yes 

— 

— 

7 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

We  try  to  get  help  without 

putting   them    to   expense, 

but  have  to  resort  to  emp. 

agencies  sometimes. 

8 

— 

Some 

When 

Most 

Some 

No    choice;    applications    are 

necessary 

filed  voluntarily  by  appli- 

cants at  our  branches. 

9 

— 

— 

Some 

Yes§ 

Some 

— 

10 

— 

— 

— 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

11 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

12 

— 

— 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

.  —  . 

13 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No  choice 

14 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

15 

— 

— 

— 

Yes! 

Some 

Continual  applications  make 

an  emp.  agency  necessary. 

16 

No 

No 

Some 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

17 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

References. 

18 

No 

No 

Some 

Yes§ 

Yes 

We  found  this  the  only  way 

to  get  desirable  help. 

^Maintain  our  own  employment  office. 


32 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Methods  Used  by  Employers  to  Secure  Help — Cont'd 


Firm 
No. 

Public 
Employ- 
ment 
Agency 

Private 
Employ- 
ment 
Agency 

News- 
papers 

Applica- 
tion 
at 
Plant 

Recom- 
menda- 
tion of 
employees 

Reasons  for  Choice 

19 

No 

No 

Yes 

Not 

In  ap- 

Newspapers get  better  class 

much 

prentice 

and  cover  more  territory. 

school 

only 

20 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Some 

Interview  before  employment. 

21 

Some 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Some 

— 

22 

No 

No 

Some 

Yes 

Some 

Productive  of  best  results. 

23 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Want  good  reliable  and  sober 

men. 

24 

— 

— 

— 

Most 

— 

— 

25 

— 

Yes   for 

Yes   for 

Yes 

Some 

— 

inferior 

better 

help 

grade 

26 

No 

No 

Some 

Yes 

Some 

Efficiency. 

27 

— 

— 

— 

Yes 

— 

— 

28 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Pleasing  results. 

29 

— 

— 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

30 

No* 

— 

Some 

Yes 

— 

— 

31 

No 

Some 

Some 

Most 

Often 

Recommendations  of  our  em- 

ployees    is     best     method 

when  possible. 

32 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Most 

Most 

Enough  men  can  be  secured 

by  these  methods. 

33 

No* 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

— 

34 

— 

— 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Most  convenient  way. 

35 

No 

No 

Occasion- 

Entirely 

When- 

Being a  little  out  of  the  Chi- 

ally 

ever 

cago  labor  center,  we  find 

possible 

we  can  reach  class  of  men 

required  from   our   lists  of 

men  laid  off,  or  through  our 

employees. 

36 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Some 

Other  resources  not  required. 

37 

No 

No 

Some 

Most 

Often 

Prefer   to  get   friends  of  em- 

ployees. 

38 

No 

Abso- 

-Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

lutely  No 

39 

Seldom 

Part 

Part 

Most 

Part 

No    particular    choice;    men 

from  public  emp.  office  do 

not    average    as     well    in 

character  and  ability. 

40 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Some 

This   method   gives   best   re- 

sults. 

41 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

42 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

43 

No 

No 

Part 

Largely 

Yes 

We  prefer  to  have  our  help 

come  to  us  free  from  any 

obligations.    We  encourage 

our    employees    to    recom- 

mend their  friends. 

44 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Fitness  for  position  open. 

45 

— 



Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

—  i 

46 

No 

No 

Yes,  when 

Most 

Yes 

Can  obtain  more  experienced 

necessary 

men  in  this  line  of  business 

by  personal  application. 

*Use  union  headquarters. 

The  employers,  in  stating  their  methods  of  securing  help,  frequently  put 
"Yes"  after  some  methods,  and  left  the  others  blank;  other  employers  put 
either  "Yes"  or  "No"  after  each  indicated  method  of  securing  help.  When  the 
space  after  one  of  the  indicated  methods  was  left  blank  or  indicated  "No," 
the  answer  has  been  registered  as  "No"  in  the  following  table.  In  addition  to 
the  methods  suggested,  two  firms  indicated  that  they  used  the  union  head- 
quarters for  securing  help.  It  was  probably  a  mistake  not  to  have  indicated 
this  as  one  of  the  means  of  securing  help. 

Methods  of  Securing  Help. 


No.  of  Employers 
reporting  that 
they: 

Public 
employment 
exchanges 

Private 
employment 
exchanges 

Newspapers 

Application 
at  plant 

Recommen- 
dation   by 
employees 

Use  

4 

5 

16 

43 

23 

Do  not  use  

39 

36 

16 

1 

6 

Use  sometimes  .  .  . 

2 

4 

13 

1 

16 

REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


33 


This  shows  that  practically  all  of  the  firms  use  the  individual  applications 
of  the  unemployed  as  their  chief  source  of  securing  help;  newspapers  are  used 
by  about  a  third  of  the  employers,  and  in  case  of  need  by  about  another  third; 
most  of  the  employers  desire  to  secure  new  employees  on  the  recommendation 
of  their  old  employees,  and  some  of  the  employers  stated  that  they  encouraged 
their  employees  to  recommend  men  for  vacancies.  There  is  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  employers  who  fail  to  make  use  of  private  and  public  employ- 
ment exchanges;  one  employer  stated  emphatically  "Absolutely  no"  to  the 
question  in  regard  to  the  use  of  private  employment  exchanges.  Another  em- 
ployer stated  that  good  men  do  not  need  to  go  to  employment  agencies  or 
newspapers  to  get  work;  another  that  he  got  his  inferior  help  from  private 
agencies,  another  that  the  men  coming  from  the  public  exchange  do  not  aver- 
age as  well  in  character  and  ability  as  the  men  secured  by  other  methods. 

Attitude  of  Employers  Toward  Public  Employment  Exchange. 


Il 

^r 

Would    you    favor    effi- 
cient  public    employ- 
ment exchanges? 

Features   In   public   em- 
ployment      exchanges 
recommended 

Would   you   patronize   a 
system    of    efficient 
State      Employment 
Exchanges,    if   recom- 
mended  by    the   Com- 
mission? 

i 

Hardly  in  our  business.. 

— 

Yes. 
Yes. 

3 

Yes          

Gratuitous    service  

Yes. 

4 
5 

So  far  as  they  could  fur- 

6 

7 

Yes           

— 

nish   competent  help. 
Yes. 

g 

Yes              

Classification     and     ref- 

Yes. 

erences  

g 

No                   

If  we  could   not  supply 

10 
11 

12 
13 

— 

our   demands    through 
our   own    emp.    office. 

Yes. 

14 
15 
16 

Not      necessary      in      our 

— 

17 

Yes   



Yes. 

18 



Yes. 

19 

Doubt     whether     employ- 
ment     agencies      could 
discriminate     in     help 
before       recommending 
them    

Would     try     them,     but 
would  not  continue  to 
patronize  them  unless 
we  could  get  the  best 
help    that   way. 

20 

Yes,     generally,    but    not 

— 

Probably     not,     because 
we    require    special 

21 
22 

For  clerical  and  shipping 

Keeping  employee's  full 

skill. 
Not  until  tested. 
Probably. 

23 

Don't    know    

Possibly. 

24 
25 

Yes   

— 

Yes.~ 

26 

Do   not  know   

Willing  to   consider  It. 

27 
28 
?1 

Yes  

— 

Yes.~ 

?0 

Yes  

Tests  showing  appli- 

Certainly. 

cant's  ability   

•'11 

Yes  

Classification    of    appli- 

Certainly. 

32 

Yes   

cants,     large    waiting 
room,    and    provisions 
for     "fixing     up"     and 
caring  for  applicants. 

Yes. 

33 

Yes    if  run   right     

Recommend    only    those 

Yes 

T4 

Yes  

with  good  references. 

Yes. 

35 

We   find   no  necessity  for 
this    

— 

Not     considered     neces- 
sary   with    our    condi- 

tions. 

34 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Attitude  of  Employers  Toward  Public  Employment  Exchange — Cont'd 


|o 

Would    you    favor    effi- 
cient public  employ- 
ment exchanges? 

Features     in.    Public    em. 
ployment    exchanges 
recommended 

Would     you      patronize      a 
system      of      efficient 
State      Employment 
Exchanges,   if    recom- 
mended    by    the     Com- 
mission? 

36 

17 

Yes  

Gratuitous    service    and 

— 

clearing  house  for 
both  sides   

38 

Yes  

Management   by   compe- 

Yes. 

tent  business  men  and 
absolute  divorce  from 
politics   

39 

Worth  trying  

Good    sensible    manage- 

Yes      if     they     furnish 

ment,  free  from  union 
control,    and    with 
careful      investigation 
of  applicants   ........ 

good  men. 

40 
41 
4? 

Not  familiar  with  It  

Yes. 
Would   give  it  our  best 

43 
44 

Yes,  if  free  from  politics. 

". 

Separation     from     poll- 
tics,   management 
vested    in    a    commis- 
sion appointed  by  the 
City  Club  or  Associa- 
tion of  Commerce.... 

consideration. 
Yes,   when  we   could   da 
so. 

Do  not  know. 

45 
46 

— 

The  attitude  of  the  employers  towards  an  efficient  system  of  publicly  man- 
aged labor  exchanges  such  as  those  of  Europe  is  generally  favorable,  in  so  far 
as  that  attitude  Js  expressed  in  their  answers.  Of  the  46  employers  who  re- 
turned the  questionnaires,  16  failed  to  answer  this  question;  6  stated  that  they 
did  not  know,  or  were  not  prepared  to  state  their  attitude,  15  declared  them- 
selves favorably  disposed  toward  such  a  system,  2  that  they  were  favorably 
disposed  to  it  in  some  respects,  only  one  was  openly  opposed  to  it,  5  doubted 
whether  such  a  system*  would  be  useful  in  their  particular  line  of  work,  though, 
they  did  not  state  any  opposition  to  the  system  in  general,  and  one  employer 
doubted  whether  employment  agencies  could  discriminate  in  help  before  rec- 
ommending them. 

Of  the  46  employers,  37  did  not  specify  any  special  features  in  public  em- 
ployment exchanges  which  they  would  recommend;  of  the  recommendations, 
four  were  for  keeping  careful  records  and  securing  references  of  applicants 
for  work  two  were  that  such  a  system  be  kept  entirely  separate  from  pol- 
itics; one  employer  even  recommended  that  it  be  in  charge  of  a  commission 
appointed  by  the  City  Club  or  the  Chamber  of  Commerce;  two  recommended 
gratuity  of  service;  two  recommended  a  careful  classification  of  applicants,, 
one  recommendation  for  a  waiting  room  and  provisions  for  "fixing  up"  and 
caring  for  the  men  who  were  applying  for  work;  there  was  one  recommenda- 
tion for  freedom  from  union  control. 

Nineteen  employers  stated  without  qualification  that  they  would  patronize 
such  exchanges,  if  recommended  by  the  Commission;  nine  replied  with  differ- 
ent degrees  of  qualification,  but  in  general  favorably;  one  employer  replied 
that  he  would  use  them  if  his  own  employment  office  could  not  supply  the 
demands;  one  employer  stated  that  it  was  not  necessary  in  his  business,  and 
one  that  he  would  probably  not  use  such  an  exchange  because  he  required 
skilled  help;  sixteen  employers  failed  to  answer  this  question. 

Recommendations  and   suggestions  by  employers: 

Employer  No.  1 :  "Our  experience  has  been  that  the  reason  of  unem- 
ployment is  that  most  of  the  unemployed  are  unwilling  to  work  and  will  not 
take  such  employment  as  is  offered.  We  have  employed  some  men  through- 
agencies  and  almost  without  exception  they  have  been  incompetent." 


•  REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 35 

Firm  No.  9:  "Our  experience  has  been  that  applicants  who  are  sent  by 
charitable  institutions  are  careless  and  very  unsatisfactory.  It  seems  that  the 
most  dependent  are  the  most  independent  and  afraid  of  work." 

Firm  No.  13:  "Our  common  schools  should  turn  out  better  average  boys 
of  16 — boys  able  to  write  well  and  express  themselves  in  fair  English  and 
willing  to  work.  Girls  should  be  taught  that  $5.00  per  week  on  State  Street 
is  not  so  good  for  them  financially  and  morally  as  $10.00,  $12.00,  $14.00  and 
$15.00  in  a  decently  run  shop,  office  or  factory.  Loyalty  to  the  man  behind 
the  pay-roll  should  be  encouraged;  it  is  growing  less  and  less." 

Firm  No.  18:  "Vocational  training  in  the  public  schools  would  in  the 
future  do  much  toward  raising  the  standard  of  labor,  as  at  present  boys  who 
by  force  of  circumstances  are  compelled  to  seek  employment,  having  no  me- 
chanical training,  will  take  the  first  situation  open  to  them  whether  it  is  suit- 
able or  not,  drifting  from  one  job  to  another  and  eventually  form  part  of  that 
unskilled  class  which  is  already  too  numerous.  An  efficient  labor  exchange 
co-operating  with  others  situated  in  the  large  cities  would  do  much  to  reduce 
the  number  of  unemployed." 

Firm  No.  19:  "Do  not  get  good  help  from  present  employment  agencies 
and  doubt  whether  employment  agencies  could  discriminate  in  help  before 
recommending  them.  Skilled  help  can  always  find  employment  here.  Only 
poor  class  of  men  refer  to  employment  bureaus  for  employment,  and  we  have 
never  yet  known  of  such  a  bureau  whose  recommendation  is  worth  the  paper 
it  is  written  on.  ...  It  strikes  me  it  is  a  question  of  general  education  and 
training." 

Firm  No.  26:  "We  believe  that  many  of  the  men  now  unemployed  would 
find  plenty  of  work  if  they  were  not  prevented  by  the  tyranny  of  labor  lead- 
ers, and  the  unreasonable  restrictions  of  labor  unions,  particularly  the  building 
trades,  as  they  limit  the  number  of  men  who  are  allowed  to  learn  trades,  and 
prevent  many  men  from  working  except  under  the  most  arbitrary  rules  and 
strict  supervision  of  the  walking  delegates." 

Firm  No.  30:  "The  greatest  evil  is  the  fact  that  workmen — no  matter 
how  inefficient — as  members  of  labor  unions,  are  forced  on  to  us,  and  we 
must  learn  by  bitter  experience  their  worth." 

Firm  No.  31:  "Labor  exchanges  will  do  much  to  mitigate  the  evil.  It 
will  always  exist  in  a  degree,  however,  and  nothing  remains  but  to  give  char- 
itable help.  The  charities  t»f  Chicago  should  be  organized  and  municipalized 
with  the  object  of  securing  better  distribution  and  more  interest  on  the  part 
of  the  housewives  of  the  city,  who  together  could  give  vast  quantities  of  old 
clothes  and  shoes.  These  might  even  be  repaired  by  the  city,  where  neces- 
sary, thus  giving  employment  to  some  poor  people." 

Firm  No.  37:  "The  average  employee  is  much  less  steady  than  of  former 
years  and  wants  to  be  guaranteed  'good'  wages  to  start,  regardless  of  the 
future.  In  other  words,  they  are  too  frequently  content  with  a  medium  wage 
and  will  not  exert  themselves  to  actually  earn  a  high  wage.  There  seems  to 
be  but  little  ambition  to  better  themselves  beyond  a  certain  point.  Frequently 
the  wages  asked  as  a  'starter'  are  ridiculously  high  when  all  the  circumstances 
are  considered." 

Firm  No.  39:  "Get  men  to  realize  that  drinking  men  find  it  difficult  to 
'  hold  their  places.  The  younger  element — 18  to  23 — of  the  present  day  is 
something  'fierce' — reckless  and  indifferent,  seem  to  lack  the  proper  ambition 
to  make  good.  In  promoting  sobriety  we  have  milkmen  come  to  the  factory 
each  day  and  sell  bottled  milk  to  the  men.  About  150  bottles  of  milk  come 
into  the  factory  in  this  way  each  day.  This  has  brought  about  an  entire  dis- 
continuance of  sending  out  buckets  for  beer — a  common  practice  some  years 
ago." 

Firm  No.  41:     "Get  rid  of  union  business  agents." 


36 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Extent  of  Unemployment,  as  Shown  by  Labor  Union  Reports. 


No. 
of 
Union 

Time 
lost  by 
average 
work- 
man 

Per  cent 
of 
members 
employed 
the 
entire 
year 

Are  there  in 
all  seasons 
some 
members 
unemployed? 

Number  of  months 
the  trade  is 

Is  the 
trade 
seasonal? 

Is  unemploy- 
ment a 
grave 
problem? 

Busy 

Slack 

No 
Work 

1 

2      mo. 

66% 

No 

9 

3 

0 

Yes 

No 

2 

5      mo. 

15 

Yes 

4 

6 

2 

Yes 

Yes 

3 

3.5  mo. 

0 

No 

7-8.5 

3.5-5 

3 

Yes 

Yes 

4 

— 

75 

Yes 

— 

— 

— 

No 

No 

5 

3.5  mo. 

60 

— 

8-10 

2-4 

2-3 

Yes 

Yes 

6 

4      mo. 

5 

Yes 

8 

4 

4 

Yes 

Yes 

7 

3      mo. 

50 

— 

— 

— 

— 

* 

No 

8 

3-4  mo. 

10 

Yes 

6-8 

3-4 

0 

Yes 

Yes 

9 

1.5  mo. 

75 

Yes 

9-10 

2-3 

§ 

Yes 

No 

10 

6       mo. 

8 

— 

4 

3 

4 

Yes 

Yes 

11 

t 

50 

No 

9 

3 

0 

Yes 

Not   necessar- 

ily 

12 

4      mo. 

70 

— 

8 

4 

4 

Yes 

Yes 

13 

3      mo. 

10 

— 

9 

3 

3 

Yes 

Yes 

14 

2-5  mo. 

85 

No 

7 

5 

0 

Yes 

Yes 

15 

7      days 

100 

Yes 

6 

6 

0 

No 

No 

16 

2-3  mo. 

60 

Yes 

6 

6 

0 

Part 

Yes 

17 

3      mo. 

5 

— 

No 

Yes 

18 

3      mo. 

60 

Yes 

9 

3 

§ 

Yes 

Yes 

19 

3-4  mo. 

5-10% 

—  - 

8-9 

1 

3-4 

— 

Yes 

20 

— 

— 

Yes 

— 

— 

0 

No 

Yes 

21 

5       mo. 

10 

— 

5 

5 

5 

Yes 

Yes 

22 

— 

0 

Yes 

6-7 

5-6 

4 

Yes 

Yes 

23 

0 

100 

Yes 

12 

0 

0 

No 

Not  very 

24 

2      days 

100 

Yes 

12 

0 

0 

No 

Yes 

25 

2-3  mo. 

66 

No 

6 

5 

1 

Yes 

Not  very 

26 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

27 

— 

— 

— 

.  — 

— 

— 

No 

Yes 

28 

0       mo. 

95 

Yes 

12 

0 

0 

No 

No 

29 

2       mo. 

75 

— 

7 

5 

0 

Yes 

Yes 

30 

4       mo. 

35 

Yes 

8 

4 

4 

Yes 

Yes 

*Not  entirely. 


JDepends  on  factory  demands. 


fBetween  seasons. 


The  number  of  members  in  the  unions  was  not  learned  in  this  ques- 
tionnaire; on  that  account  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  averages;  but,  roughly, 
the  time  lost  by  the  average  workman  was  about  3  months;  a  little  over  50% 
of  the  workers  had  work  the  year  round;  about '74%  (14  of  the  19)  unions 
replying,  stated  that  at  all  times  of  the  year  some  of  their  members  were 
unemployed.  (This  question  was  stated:  "Does  this  register  of  unemployed 
men  show,  or  do  you  know,  whether  there  are  at  all  times  through  the  year 
some  of  your  members  out  of  employment?"  Some  of  the  answers  seem  to 
indicate  that  this  was  not  understood  to  mean  "Are  some  of  your  members 
unemployed,"  but  "Can  you  tell  whether  they  are?") 

Some  of  the  unions  included  the  period  of  "no  work"  in  the  "slack"  sea- 
sons, and  they  therefore  over-lap;  others  did  not;  the  average  is  therefore 
inaccurate.  The  average,  such  as  it  is,  shows  that  about  7^4  months  of  the 
year  are  busy,  3%  slack  and  iy2  no  work.  Eighteen  unions  replied  that  their 
trades  were  seasonal,  two  that  they  were  partly  seasonal,  eight  that  they  were 
not  seasonal,  and  two  failed  to  answer  this  question. 

Twenty  unions  replied  that  unemployment  is  a  grave  problem  in  their 
trade,  six  that  it  was  not  a  grave  problem  (though  only  one  of  these  reported 
that  all  their  members  were  employed  the  year  around;  the  other  reported 
that  from  50  to  75%  of  their  members  were  employed  the  year  round,  and 
that  the  average  member  lost  from  1.5  to  3  months  on  the  average),  three  that 
it  was  not  a  very  grave  problem,  and  one  failed  to  reply  to  this  question. 

The  general  conclusion  is  that  unemployment  is  a  grave  problem  to  the 
members  of  these  labor  unions,  in  that  there  is  about  a  month  and  a  half  of 
no  work,  three  and  a  half  months  of  slack  work,  and  in  that  there  are  at  all 
seasons  some  members  unemployed;  speaking  roughly,  about  50%  of  the 
members  have  work  the  entire  year,  and  the  average  workman  loses  about 
three  months  of  work  in  his  trade  during  the  year.  These  figures  do  not  show 
whether  he  finds  work  in  some  other  trades. 

These  returns  may  be  represented  most  accurately  by  grouping  them. 
Considering  only  the  25  unions  reporting  definitely  on  this  point,  the  average 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


37 


member  in  4  unions  lost  less  than  1  month  at  his  trade,  the  average  member 
in  1  union  lost  from  1  to  2  months  at  his  trade,  the  average  member  in  5 
unions  lost  from  2  to  3  months  at  his  trade,  the  average  member  in  8  unions 
lost  from  3  to  4  months  at  his  trade,  the  average  member  in  3  unions  lost  from 
4  to  5  months  at  his  trade,  the  average  member  in  2  union  lost  from  5  to  6 
months  at  his  trade,  the  average  member  in  1  union  lost  6  months  at  his  trade, 
the  average  member  in  1  union  lost  from  2  to  5  months  at  his  trade. 
For  the  27  unions  reporting  on  this  point: 

In  6  unions     less     than     10%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 
In  4  unions    from    10    to    19%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

29%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

39%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

49%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

59%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

69%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

79%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

89%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 

99%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 
100%  of  the  members  work  the  entire  year. 
There  seems  to  have  been  some  misunderstanding  or  else  a  great  differ- 
ence in  standards  in  answering  the  question:  "Is  unemployment  a  grave  prob- 
lem in  your  trade?"  For  instance,  Union  No.  25  replied  that  it  was  not  a  very 
grave  problem,  but  in  the  course  of  the  answers  to  other  questions  stated  that 
last  winter  five  members  of  their  union  (one-fifth  of  the  entire  membership) 
last  winter  walked  the  streets  for  ten  weeks  in  one  stretch  in  search  of  work; 
also  that  some-  of  their  members  were  out  of  work  for  months  at  a  time.  The 
members  in  this  union  had  surplus  funds  in  only  a  very  few  cases.  Therefore, 
their  statement  that  unemployment  is  not  a  very  grave  problem  seems  doubtful. 

The  Extent  of  Unemployment,  as  Shown  by  Labor  Union  Reports. 

The  extent  of  unemployment  is  also  shown  by  the  comparison  of  the 
lowest  and  the  highest  number  of  persons  employed  during  the  winter  of 
1911-1912,  and  by  a  comparison  of  that  winter  with  previous  winters. 


In  0 
In  1 
In  0 
In  2 
In  5 
In  4 
In  1 
In  1 
In  3 

union 
union 
union 
unions 
unions 
unions 
union 
union 
unions 

from 
from 
from 
from 
from 
from 
from 
from 

No. 
of 
Union 

Number  unemployed  in 
winter  of  1911-12 

Were  conditions 
of  employment 
worse  than 
in  other  years? 

Period  in  1911-12  of 

Least  number 
unemployed 

Greatest  number 
unemployed 

Least 

Greatest 

1 

100-200 

— 

Worse 

— 

Dec.-Jan. 

2 

500  (33%) 

1300  (85%) 

Worse 

Sept. 

Feb. 

3 

0 

0 

Worse 

— 

Winter 

4 

400 

490 

Worse 

— 

Jan.-March 

5 

20 

75 

Worse 

— 

Dec.-March 

6 

355 

400 

Worse 

Summer 

Winter 

7 

300 

500 

Worse 

Nov. 

Jan. 

8 

800 

1200 

Worse 

— 

9 

2 

10 

Worse 

Summer 

Nov.-Jan. 

10 

40 

60 

Worse 

May,  June, 

Dec.-March 

Sept.,  Oct. 

11 

— 

~^— 

Worse 

Summer 

Winter 

12 

500 

600 

Worse 

— 

Jan.-Apr. 

13 

0 

427 

No 

— 

May  15-Aug.  15 

14 

— 

— 

Worse 

— 

Nov.  -Apr. 

15 

0 

0 

No 

— 

— 

16 

15 

50 

Worse 

Aug.-Nov. 

•  — 

17 

240 

375 

Worse 

— 

— 

18 

6 

22 

Worse 

Winter 

Summer 

19 

200 

250 

Worse 

Summer 

Winter 

20 

— 

Worse 

— 

* 

21 

300 

500 

Worse 

May-  June 

Jan.-Feb. 

22 

400 

600 

Worse 

July 

Jan. 

23 

0 

5 

No 

— 

— 

24 

15 

Worse 

— 

— 

25 

5 

16 

— 

— 

Fall  and  winter 

26 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

27 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

28 

— 

— 

No 

— 

— 

29 

300 

500 

Worse 

Fall 

Winter 

30 

50% 

50% 

Worse 

May-Dec.  1 

Winter 

*Bad  all  through  the  year. 


38 REPORT  OP  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

This  table  shows  that  the  least  number  unemployed  in  the  winter  of  1911- 
1912  was  4,383,  the  greatest  number  7,380;  also,  that  the  winter  is  in  all  cases 
except  one  the  time  of  the  greatest  amount  of  unemployment;  the  7,380  unem- 
ployed should,  therefore,  be  contrasted  also  with  the  number  unemployed  in 
the  spring  or  early  fall,  but  the  figures  for  that  comparison  -are  not  accessible. 
Since  these  trades  show  that  the  period  of  unemployment  is  uniformly  the 
winter  months,  it  is  evident  that  not  many  men  can  transfer  from  their  regular 
trade  to  some  other  skilled  trade,  but  that  they  must  take  odd  jobs  that  can 
be  found  in  the  winter. 

Twenty-three  unions  reported  that  there  was  more  unemployment  in  the 
winter  of  1911-12  than  usual,  four  unions  reported  that  it  was  no  more,  and 
three  unions  failed  to  answer  this  question.  The  reason  given  for  the  increased 
unemployment  was  generally  the  severe  weather.  (See  below  ) 

Extent  of  Unemployment,  as  Shown  by  Labor  Union  Reports. 
The  comparison  of  the  actual  earnings  of  members  of  trade  unions  with 
the  earnings  they  would  receive  if  they  were  employed  steadily  indicates  the 
amount  of  unemployment.    This  also  shows  the  probable  effects  of  unemploy- 
ment. 

Union  Actual  earnings  Possible  annual  earnings 

No.  in  a  year.  if  steadily  employed. 

1  $    792  |    936 

2  675  1,350 

3  600  900 

4  750  1,000 

5  650  850 

6  520  782 

7  750  1,750 

8  600  1,500 

9  l,l«"i  1,300 

10  i  700  1,435 

11  •. .  1,200 

12  1,200  1,816 

13  800  1.040 

14  540  700 

15  1,150  1,155 

16  750  900 

17  650  1,000 

18  500  800 

19  

20  1,050 

21  500  900 

22  210*  315* 
23 

24  '  '1,650  '  '1,766 

25  900  953.16 

26  

27  

28  1,400  1,400 

29  1,1001  1,100§ 

30  1,200  1,800 
•With  board  and  lodging. 

§There  is  evidently  some  mistake  in  this  answer,  for  the  union  reported 
that  the  average  member  lost  2  months'  work,  and  that  75%  of  the  members 
have  work  the  year  round.  This  report  is  therefore  not  included  in  the  totals. 

In  a  recent  book  on  "The  Standard  of  Living  Among  Workingmen's  Fami- 
lies," R.  C.  Chapin  concluded  that  in  New  York  City  an  annual  income  of  $800 
is  necessary  to  keep  the  standard  of  living  up  to  the  normal  demands  of 
health,  working  efficiency  and  social  decency.  This  annual  income  necessary 
for  efficient  work  is  sometimes  placed  at  $700. 

According  to  the  above  chart  none  of  the  members  of  these  unions  would 
receive  less  than  $700  a  year  if  they  worked  full  time;  but  actually  the  aver- 
age member  in  nine  of  these  unions  (40.9%  of  those  reporting)  receives  less 
than  $700  from  his  trade. 

Of  the  22  answers  which  can  be  used  for  this  purpose  the  results  may  be 
grouped  as  follows: 


Actually    the    average    member    In: 

14  unions  receive  from.$    500  to  $    799 

2   unions  receive  from.       800  to  1,099 

4   unions  receive  from.    1,100  to  1,399 

2   unions   receive   from.    1,400  to  1,699 

0   unions   receive   from.    1,700  to  1,899 


If    working    full     time     the   average 
member  in: 

2  unions  would  receive.?    500  to  $      7Mt 
10  unions  would  receive.       800  to     1,099 

3  unions  would  receive.    1,100  to     1,399 

3  unions  would  receive.    1,400  to     1,699 

4  unions  would  receive.    1,700  to     1,899 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


39 


This  may  be  expressed  in  another  way,  thus: 


The  average  member  in  4  unions  lost  less  than  9.9% 
The  average  member  in  3  unions  lost  from  10.0  to  19, 
The  average  member  in  4  unions  lost  from  20.0  to  29 
The-  average  member  in  6  unions  lost  from  30.0  to  39 
The  average  member  in  0  unions  lost  from  40.0  to  49 
The  average  member  in  4  unions  lost  from  50.0  to  59, 
The  average  member  in  1  union  lost  from  60.0  to  69, 


of  his  possible  earnings. 
9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 
9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 
9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 
9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 
9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 
9%  of  his  possible  earnings. 


This  loss  refers  only  to  the  loss  from  unemployment  in  his  own  trade, 
and  does  not  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  he  may  secure  work  in 
some  other  trade  to  keep  up  his  earnings.  One  union  in  the  cement  industry 
stated  that  when  cold  weather  prevented  a  continuance  of  their  own  trade, 
the  men  drifted  around,  some  working  in  the  packing  houses,  some  in  shops 
and  foundries. 

In  order  to  determine  the  results  of  the  loss  of  earnings  it  would  be  nec- 
essary to  know,  also,  whether  or  not  the  workmen  had  a  surplus  of  some 
kind ;  the  answers  to  this  question  are,  necessarily,  rather  indefinite.  Two 
unions  did  not  answer  this  question,  because  it  was  "private  business."  The 
union  out-of-work  benefit  would  also  .be  closely  connected  with  this  point, 
and  is  therefore  included  in  the  following  table: 


o§ 

11 

Do  the  members  have  a  sur- 
plus of  some  kind? 

Does  the  union  have 
out-of-work      ben- 
flts? 

If    so,    how    are    re- 
quests  for   benefits 
checked? 

1 

2 
3 

4 

5 
« 

7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 

23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30    \ 

Some    have    surplus,     all     have 

No    . 

Union     book 
stamps     and 
of-work  list. 

due 
out- 

Very   few  —  about   2%  

No 

No    

Yes     

No 

No    

No    

The  majority  have  not  

No    

No  §                    

Some    

No             .  .                 ... 

No    

No    

Very  few   

No    

Very  few   

No  *    

Yes   

No    

Verv  few   

No  °    .... 

Very  few   

No    

About   20%    own   their  homes.. 
Some    have    

No  §     . 

No    

About    5  %    have  ;  

No  §     

No    

Very    few    have    surplus;    none 
have    homes    

No    

No    . 

Some    have 

Most   all   own    property  No    

Very  few    .  Nn    

Very  few 

No    . 

No     . 

Yes  No    

§  Dues   are  remitted. 

0  Give  out-of-work  stamps. 

*Strike   benefits  are  given. 

These  answers  indicate  that  probably  a  very  small  proportion  of  the 
members  of  these  unions  have  a  definite  surplus;  when  a  period  of  unemploy- 
ment strikes  them,  they  must  either  secure  some  other  kind  of  work  or  soon 
become  dependents.  Only  one  union  pays  any  benefits  to  those  unemployed. 


40 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Constitution  of  the  Membership  of  Labor  Unions. 


No. 
Un. 

Av. 
Age. 

• 
Nationalities. 

1 

40 

German,  Polish,  Swedish,  Italian,  Irish. 

2 

35 

American,  Irish,  German. 

3 

26-45 

Colored. 

4 

35 

German,  American. 

5 

30 

Italian,  Swedish,  German,  Irish.  American. 

6 

28 

German,   Swedish,  French,  Polish. 

7 

40 

Norwegian,  Irish,  German. 

8 

American. 

9 

40 

German,  Bohemian,  American. 

10 

40 

Scandinavian,  German. 

11 

__ 

12 

38 

_ 

13 

30 

Native  Born. 

14 

45 

Hungarian  and  Italians  (about  60%). 

15 

30 

American,  Irish,  German,  Polish. 

16 

35-40 

_.                                                                                                          •  • 

17 

4? 

American,  German. 

18 

32 

American   (12%). 

19 

German. 

20 

Slavonic. 

21 

25-30 

_ 

22 

27 

American  (55%),  Canadian   (15%),  Scandinavian   (20%),  British,  Ger- 

man. 

23 

18-70 

Irish,  Dutch,  American,  Polish,  Negro,  Greeks,  Jews. 

24 

37 

— 

25 

25-80 

Norwegians. 

26 

.  . 

— 

27 

25 

American. 

28 

35 

German,  Irish. 

29 

30 

American,  German,  Irish. 

30 

38 

American,  German,  Irish,  Swedish. 

This  table  shows  that  the  labor  unions  from  which  reports  were  secured 
are  made  up  predominantly  of  Americans  and  northern  Europeans,  and  that 
there  are  few  members  of  the  southern  European  races.  The  members  are, 
also,  predominantly,  men  in  their  prime. 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


41 


Methods  of  Securing  Employment. 


No. 
Union 

How  do  members  secure 
employment? 

Does  the 
union  have 
an  employ- 
m't  office? 

If  so,  how  is  it 
organized? 

1 

Through   office    

No 

2 

Individual    application    

No 

, 

3 

Union        ....         

Yes 

Register    of    unemployed. 

4 

Union      

Yes 

Secretary    keeps    a    list    of 

5 

Individual   application  

No 

the     unemployed,     and 
sends    them    in    rotation 
to   vacancies;    one   day   a 
week    extra    work    given 
to  the  unemployed. 

6 

Individual     application    and     re- 
quests   at    meetings  

No 

— 

7 

Individual    application    and 
through   the  union    

No 

— 

8 

Union    

Yes 

Secretary  in  office  and  man 

9 

Individual  application   

No 

in    the    field    looking    up 
vacancies. 
Secretary  in  office. 

10 

Office           

Yes 

11 

Individual    application    

No 

12 

Through   office    

No 

13 

No 

14 

Through    interpreter    

No 

15 

Go   East   or   West  

No 

16 

Individual     application     and     re- 
ports   in   lodge  

No 

17 

Not   through   an   agent  

No 

18 

Through    business    agent    

Yes 

When  a   man   quits   his   job 

19 
20 

Individual    application    

No§ 
No 

he     reports     to     business 
agent. 

21 

Individual    application    

No 

22 

Union  

Yes 

Reports  are  sent  from  city 

23 
24 

Union,    and    Individual   applicat'n 
Union  

Yes 
Yes 

to   City,   so  that   the  men 
are  informed  about  posi- 
tions;  Information  at  of- 
fice. 
Secretary    gets    calls    from 
employers,     and     notifies 
members  of  positions. 
No    member    is    allowed    to 

25 

Individual    application    

No 

look    for   work    for    him- 
self:   office   furnishes    the 
work. 

26 
27 
28 
29 
30 

By   presenting   working   card.... 
Asking   those   who   are   working. 
Correspondence    and    office  

Yes 
No 
No 
Yes 

Locals  and  offices  through- 

out  the   country,   free   to 
members. 

§Not  a  practical  one. 

Of  the  twenty-nine  unions  reporting,  10  had  employment  offices,  and  nine- 
teen did  not;  those  that  have  employment  offices  have  organized  them  some- 
what differently;  some  of  them  merely  have  a  secretary  who  receives  demands 
from  employers;  others  have,  in  addition,  a  field  agent  who  looks  up  vacan- 
cies. Two  of  them  have  regular  reports  from  unions  in  other  cities,  so  that 
men  can  be  sent  back  and  forth  according  to  requirements.  In  one  union  no 
member  is  allowed  to  look  for  work  for  himself,  but  the  union  furnishes  him 
work.  In  addition  to  this  formal  organization,  the  unions  serve  as  meeting 
places  at  which  the  unemployed  member  may  receive  information  in  regard 
to  vacancies  from  the  employed  members;  in  five  cases  in  which  there  was  no 
employment  office  maintained  by  the  union,  this  was  reported  to  be  one  of 
the  means  of  securing  employment.  In  eleven  cases  individual  application  is 
reported  to  be  the  principal  means  of  securing  employment,  and  in  one  case 
it  is  used  to  supplement  the  union  employment  office.  Thus  it  is  evident  that 
even  for  the  members  of  labor  unions  individual  applications  are  numerically 
probably  the  most  universal  means  of  securing  employment. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


Attitude    of   Labor   Unions   to    Public    Labor    Exchanges. 


Union 
No. 

Would  your  members 

What  features  do  you  recommend? 

Favor  public 
labor  exchanges? 

Patronize 
them? 

1 

Yes 

Yes 

About  the  same  as  conducted  in  Europe. 

2 

— 



— 

3 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

4 

No 

No 

—                                  f.*  •'•'•' 

5 
6 

Yes 
Not  if  political 

Yes 

Keep  it  out  of  potftics,  organize  "it  through  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  or  by  Commission  of  Labor, 

appoint  officers  for  their  experience  as  work- 

ing men. 

7 

No 

—— 

— 

8 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

9 

Think  not 

— 

— 

10 

Not  for  our 

— 

— 

members 

11 

Yes 

Yes 

Installation  of  musical  exchange  in  conjunction. 

12 

—  . 



— 

13 

No 

No 

— 

14 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

15 

No 

No 

— 

16 

Yes§ 

Yes§ 

— 

17 

Yes 

Yes 

Gratuitous  service. 

18 

Yes§ 

Yes§ 

Do    not    employ    strike-breakers;    be    fair 

to 

unionists. 

19 

Yes 

Yes 

20 

— 

— 

— 

21 

Yes 

Yes 

Each    trade   union    should   have   an   exchange. 

either  of  its  own  or  as  a  department  of 

the 

municipal  exchange. 

22 

No* 



— 

23 

No 

No 

— 

24 

— 

— 

25 

Yes 

Yes 

Strict  control  by  municipality. 

26 

— 



— 

27 

— 



— 

28 

—     • 

Not 

— 

29 

Yes 

Yes 

— 

30 

— 

§If  not  a  detriment  to  unionism. 
*Too  convenient  as  strike-breaking  agencies. 

tit  would  not  help  our  organization  any,  and  think  it  would  not  be  of  any  benefit 
except  to  unskilled  labor. 

Eleven  unions  reply  that  they  favor  such  public  labor  exchanges,  eight  do 
not  favor  them,  three  favor  them  conditionally,  and  eight  do  not  answer  the 
question;  that  is,  50%  of  the  unions  replying  favor  them  unconditionally,  14% 
favor  them  conditionally,  and  36%  oppose  them. 

Only  eighteen  of  the  unions  answer  the  question  in  regard  to  whether  or 
not  their  members  will  patronize  the  exchanges;  of  these  eleven  say  they  will, 
three  state  that  they  will  conditionally,  and  four  that  they  will  not. 

The  principal  reason  given  for  refusal  to  favor  or  patronize  the  public 
exchanges  is  the  fear  that  they  will  be  used  as  strike-breaking  agencies,  or 
detrimental  in  other  ways  to  unionism.  For  that  reason  a  few  of  the  unions 
maintain  that  it  must  be  kept  out  of  politics. 

The  cordial  attitude  of  some  of  the  unions  is  shown  by  the  following 
statement,  made  by  Union  No.  1,  "We  all  join  hands  in  thanking  your  Honor- 
able Committee  in  taking  such  interest  in  our  working  conditions  and  wish 
you  success  in  your  good  work.  I  hope  the  time  will  come  when  the  em- 
ployer and  employee  will  get  in  better  relations  with  one  another  and  stop  all 
strikes."  Union  No.  25  replied  that  in  their  last  meeting  they  had  voted  "to 
co-operate  with  you  in  the  work  in  establishing  exchanges  for  the  unemployed." 

Union  No.  22.  while  opposing  public  exchanges  because  of  the  ease  with 
which  they  would  furnish  strike-breakers,  stated  that  the  great  problem  was 
that  the  workman  "has  no  means  of  finding  out  for  himself  where  men  are 
needed  and  how  many  are  responding.  .  .  .  They  must  have  some  method 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


43 


of  finding  out  the  true  facts  for  themselves,  so  that  they  will  feel  safe  in  rely- 
ing on  the  information."  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  if  the  workmen 
felt  sure  that  the  exchanges  were  reliable,  and  if  they  had  a  voice  in  the  con- 
trol, they  would  not  oppose  them. 

Causes  of  Unemployment,  as  Stated  by  Labor  Unions. 


Union 
No. 


Reasons  for  Increase  of  un- 
employment In  the  winter  of 
1911-12,    as    compared    with 
previous  winters 


General  Causes  of  Unemployment 


9 
10 

11 

12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 


23 
24 

25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 


cold 


Extreme 

Cold 

Unemployment    in   other 
work 


Influx  of  workers  during  rush. 
Contractors  employ  non-union  labor. 


Migration     of     unemployed  Migration  to  city,  women  and  children  tak- 


to  Chicago  in  winter.... 
Cold 

Cold  . 


Lack  of  work    

Severe  weather   

Over-production 

Jurisdictional  disputes 


Strike 

Political    uncertainty 


Strike  . 
Strike  . 


Severe    weather    

Business    depression    . . 

Long    hours    

More  men  hunting  for 


Letting   contracts    out    of 
city 


ing  work. 

Seasons.  ; 

Cold,  and   lock-outs  by  employers  when 

overstocked. 
Lack  of  work. 
More  men  than  jobs. 
Inefficiency  of  workmen. 
Seasons,   Jurisdictional   disputes,   vacations 
/•  by  property  owners. 
Lack  of  business. 
Lack  of  building  operations. 
Seasons  based  on  habit. 
Over-supply  of  foreigners. 

Long   hours,   modern   machinery,   high 
speed. 

Strikes,    lock-outs,   lack   of   work. 

Machinery,  employment  bureau  of  manufac- 
turers'  association. 

Seasons. 

Business  depression. 

,Long  hours  in  busy  times, 
jobs  Seasons,    racial   competition,   laying   off   men 
at  end  of  trip,  college  students  who  work 
for  fun. 

Intoxicants,   neglect  of  duty. 

Letting  contracts  out  of  the  city. 


Cold 

Severe    weather 


Seasons. 

Too  many  young  and   incompetent  workers. 
Improved   machinery. 
Business    depression. 
Lack  of  work. 


One  of  the  reasons  assigned  for  the  general  state  of  unemployment,  gen- 
eral business  depression  or  lack  of  work  was  given  eight  times,  seasons  six 
times,  inefficiency  of  workers,  migration  to  the  city  and  machinery  three  times 
each;  long  hours  during  rush  seasons  was  given  in  two  cases;  mention  was 
made  one  time  for  each  of  the  following  as  general  causes  of  unemployment: 
Women  and  children  in  industry,  over-production,  Jurisdictional  disputes, 
strikes,  immigration,  letting  contracts  out  of  the  city,  and  the  employment  bu- 
reau of  the  manufacturers'  association. 

Of  the  reasons  given  by  the  unions  for  the  increase  in  the  amount  of 
unemployment  in  the  winter  of  1911-12,  as  compared  with  previous  winters, 
the  severe  weather  was  given  in  eight  cases,  strikes  in  three  cases,  unemploy- 
ment in  other  industries  in  two  cases,  general  business  depression  or  lack  of 
work  in  two  cases,  and  the  following  in  one  case  each:  migration  to  city, 
over-production,  Jurisdictional  disputes,  political  uncertainty,  long  hours,  and 
letting  contracts  out  of  the  city. 

The  following  quotations  express  more  at  length  the  attitude  of  the  unions 
in  regard  to  the  causes  of  unemployment. 


44 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Union  No.  3:  "Contractors  who  do  work  in  our  line  often  send  out  of 
the  city  and  get  non-union  men  and  we,  the  permanent  residents  of  Chicago, 
walk  the  streets  looking  for  work.  But,  in  the  event  of'the  City  doing  its  own 
work,  this  is  one  of  the  evils  that  will  be  done  away  with." 

Union  No.  7:  "In  our  craft  we  have  what  is  called  a  'floating'  element. 
They  go  from  place  to  place  where  there  is  any  amount  of  work,  and  very 
often  a  slack  season  will  find  a  number  of  them  'stranded,'  in  the  large  centers, 
thus  increasing  the  number  of  unemployed  in  such  centers.  Winter  is  often  a 
very  slack  season  for  our  craft." 

Union  No.  10:  "Every  July  and  August  a  great  number  of  our  members 
are  out  of  work;  explanation — vacations  of  parties  erecting  buildings.  Juris- 
dictional  disputes  cause  the  tying  up  of  construction  work.  Contractors  should 
observe  the  jurisdiction  of  each  trade  over  the  class  of  work  granted  to  it  by 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  Architects  and  owners  should!  let  no  contracts  to  contractors 
who  will  not  observe  the  jurisdiction  of  each  trade." 

Union  No.  15  stated  that  immigration  was  the  cause  of  unemployment, 
because  the  immigrants  would  work  for  less  than  the  Americans. 

Union  No.  24:  "Look  over  the  contracts  that  were  let  out  last  year  for 
castings  of  all  kinds,  from  manhole  covers  to  repairs  on  pumps  and  all  the 
new  pump  work.  Now  this  alone  would  require  a  great  number  of  mechanics, 
and  labor  of  all  kinds;  and  again,  look  at  the  water  meters;  the  contracts  for 
those  are  all  new;  work  goes  out  of  Chicago,  and,  of  course,  when  our  work 
goes  out  of  the  city,  we  are  left  idle  to  walk  the  streets  and  help  to  make  the 
army  greater.  Now,  why  dp  we  not  make  our  own  water  meters?  Those  we 
are  now  using  are  not  satisfactory  and  are  very  expensive.  We  can  make 
them  at  a  great  saving  of  money  to  the  city.  .  .  .  We  pay  large  salaries 
to  competent  engineers  in  our  engineering  department.  Why  can  we  not  also 
build  our  new  pumps  and  engines?  Why  can  we  not  build  our  own  bridges? 
There  will  be  upward  of  over  a  million  and  a  half  dollars  there  alone.  I  un- 
derstand two  of  these  already  are  gone  outside  the  city,  and  I  further  under- 
stand from  an  investigation  that  the  city  employees  have  on  all  past  'contract- 
bridges  had  to  take  up  the  work  and  finish  it  before  the  city  would  accept. 
If  we  have  to  remodel  them,  why  not  make  them  and  save  the  city  money 
and  time?  There  was  passed  at  Springfield  an  act  called  the  day  labor  bill, 
giving  the  people  the  right  to  do  all  their  own  work  by  day  labor.  If  we  keep 
the  million  or  two  dollars  in  Chicago  that  is  spent  in  letting  out  contracts,  we 
will  reduce  the  army  of  unemployed  by  many  thousands  and  be  of  great  benefit 
to  both  merchant  and  mechanic.  .  .  .  When  our  money  goes  and  our  work 
goes,  we  cannot  help  but  be  idle.  I  think  it  is  up  to  this  Commission  to  put  a 
stop  to  this  unjust  practice;  keep  the  work  in  Chicago;  give  the  tax  payers  a 
chance  to  work  for  themselves,  and  we  will  keep  the  money  in  Chicago  and 
it  will  do  more  to  relieve  the  situation  and  reduce  the  army  of  unemployed 
and  in  general  satisfy  the  public.  The  city  is  just  about  to  build  a  foundry. 
Why  not  enlarge  the  machine  shop  and  stop  all  contract  work  in  general  and 
give  the  unemployed  a  chance  to  earn  a  living?" 

SUGGESTIONS    BY    LABOR    UNIONS. 

Union  No.  4:  "The  best  way  to  deal  with  unemployment  would  be  to 
assess  every  man  who  is  working  and  in  case  he  is  out  of  work  assist  him  for 
a  certain  time.  Our  union  applied  this  plan  twelve  years  ago  with  the  best 
results.  We  assess  every  member  50c  a  month  and  pay  to  the  members  who 
have  been  out  of  work  for  five  weeks  $4  a  week  during  the  winter  months, 
December,  January,  February  and  March." 

Union  No.  5:  "Stop  foreign  immigration  for  a  period  of  ten  years. 
Establish  a  minimum  wage.  Establish  an  eight  hour  day.  Build  houses  that 
could  be  rented  for  lower  rent  and  reduce  the  price  of  the  necessary  means 
of  subsistence." 

Union  No.  6.  "  Should  the  different  companies  be  forced  by  law  in 
some  way  to  -find  employment  for  every  man  through  the  winter  months, 
they  would  use  only  ordinary  power  through  summer  and  could  easily  find 
work  for  every  man  through  the  winter  or  at  least  employ  eleven  months, 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 45 

instead  of  eight.  Also,  force  the  farmers  to  hire  men  by  the  year,  and  not 
turn  them  out  just  as  soon  as  everything  freezes  up;  then  they  come  to  large 
cities,  spend  their  savings  in  a  few  days,  and  are  thrown  on  the  labor  market 
for  the  winter.  The  same  is  true  of  the  track  gangs  of  the  railway  companies." 

Union  No.  8:  "Personally  I  believe  that  immigration  should  be  curtailed 
to  some  reasonable  extent;  also,  that  real  estate  brokers  and  others  should 
not  advertise  throughout  the  country,  as  is  done  at  present,  that  times  are 
good  in  the.  large  cities,  such  as  Chicago;  this  brings  a  large  element  of 
floaters  to  the  city,  especially  in  the  winter  months,  thereby  taking  away  the 
employment  from  the  men  who  have  homes  here  and  families  to  support. 
More  public  improvements  could  be  undertaken  to  employ  more  men." 

Union  No.  12  suggested  that  the  plumbing  inspectors  should  be  more 
efficient,  and  that  this  would  bring  more  work  for  this  union. 

Union  No.  13:  "We  would  like  to  have  a  stated  season  of  employment 
or  some  means  of  remuneration  for  the  time  we  are  unemployed,  through  an 
exchange  or  otherwise,  where  we  would  not  become  a  burden  on  the  munici- 
pality." 

Union  No.  16  would  recommend  that  the  hours  of  labor  be  shortened,  on 
account  of  modern  machinery,  high  speed,  and  modern  shop  methods,  to 
eight  hours  per  day  in  order  to  give  everybody  an  opportunity  for  work.  The 
abolition  of  the  piece-work  and  premium  system  would  help  materially.  We 
find  there  is  a  tendency  among  employers  to  discriminate  against  men  over 
40  years,  thereby  depriving  them  of  an  opportunity  to  earn  a  livelihood,  which 
makes  some  of  them  a  charge  upon  the  municipality. 

Union  No.  17:  "Unfair  methods  of  the  railroads  treating  with  their 
employees  cause  strikes  and  lock-outs.  We  would  suggest  that  the  eight 
hour  day  be  enforced,  and  thereby  give  employment  to  more  men,  and  when 
a  reduction  in  expenses  is  necessary  reduce  the  hours  rather  than  the  force." 

Union  No.  18:  "I  would  call  attention  to  the  secret  reports  of  doctors 
in  the  railway  hospitals,  supported  by  the  men  themselves.  I  hear  that  if 
a  man  has  a  finger  off,  for  illustration,  the  doctor  cures  the  finger,  and  at  the 
same  time  tests  the  man's  lungs,  water,  etc.,  perhaps  finds  he  has  Bright's 
Disease.  The  secret  report  is  sent  in,  and  this  man  is  discharged  at  once  for 
something  which  is  trivial,  and  he  is  on  the  streets,  a  burden  on  the  community. 
I  am  told  this  is  done,  and  give  it  to  you  for  what  it  is  worth.  I  am  told 
that  the  captalists  of  this  country  make  or  break  the  labor  market  at  their 
pleasure." 

Union  No.  20:  "I  would  suggest  remedial  legislation  covering  immigra- 
tion into  the  U.  S.,  not  to  exclude  all,  but  with  a  view  to  getting  a  higher 
type  of  civilization  than  what  we  now  get  as  a  rule.  Your  Commission 
could  also  show  their  sincerity  by  advocating  a  shorter  work-day  generally. 
The  same  amount  of  work  can  be  distributed  among  a  greater  number  of 
men  at  eight  hours  per  day  than  if  they  were  required  to  work  ten  hours." 

Union  No.  21:  "Eight  hours'  work  for  both  men  and  women;  no  over- 
time should  be  allowed.  Municipal  ownership  of  factories.  Insurance  fund 
for  slack  times,  which  should  be  paid  by  the  bosses  and  by  the  workmen. 
Children  under  sixteen  should  not  be  permitted  to  work.  Old-age  pensions 
which  will  instate  young  people  in  their  places.  Abolish  all  sweat  shops. 
Unions  to  have  control  of  the  shops;  no  piece-work." 

Union  No.  22:  "The  greatest  problem  is  that  of  the  migratory  or 
casual  laborer,  who  heads  west  each  spring  for  railroad,  construction  and 
farm  work,  and  returns  east  each  fall  to  overcrowd  the  cities  and  compete 
for  work  (Chicago  gets  a  whole  host  of  these  men  each  winter),  who  is 
the  constant  prey  of  private  employment  agencies,  to  whom  state  agencies 
are  of  little  value,  and  who  has  no  means  of  finding  out  for  himself  where 
men  are  needed,  and  how  many  are  responding.  At  present  when  word  is 
sent  out  that  men  are  needed  in  a  given  part  of  the  country  these  men  either 
respond  in  droves,  resulting  in  too  many  coming,  or  they  distrust  the  informa- 
tion and  refuse  to  come  at  all.  They  must  have  some  method  of  finding  out 
the  true  facts  for  themselves,  so  that  they  will  feel  safe  in  relying  on  the 
information.  They  must  be  given  a  chance  to  solve  their  own  problem — 


46 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

until  they  get  that  chance  there  will  be  no  solution  of  it.  There  are  about 
three  million  of  them,  according  to  the  estimates  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor  (officials  or  delegates),  and  Chicago  is  a  gathering  point." 

Union  No.  23:  "There  are  a  great  many  men  in  and  around  the  Union 
Stock  Yards  that  would  not  work  if  you  placed  a  position  in  their  back  yard, 
so  long  as  they  get  some  one  to  hand  them  the  price,  and  they  can  get  to 
the  free  lunch  counters  and  help  themselves.  Some  of  the  free  lunch  counters 
in  this  vicinity  set  up  a  better  meal  than  one-half  of  the  restaurants  do  that 
are  located  on  Halsted  near  Root  Street." 

Union  No.  26.  "Over  twenty  years  study  of  the  labor  question  has 
convinced  me  that  the  only  possible  remedy  for  the  dull  seasons  which,  at 
intervals  sweep  over  every  industry,  is  a  curtailment  of  the  hours  of  labor 
during  the  slack  periods.  This  method  is  somewhat  extensively  used  in  various 
portions  of  the  Old  World,  but  for  two  reasons  American  manufacturers 
are  absolutely  opposed  to  the  system.  Change  their  views  and  you  will  have 
solved  to  a  large  extent  the  unemployment  cause." 

Union  No.  27:  "We  believe  there  should  be  some  regulation  of  the 
schools  that  are  at  the  present  time  turning  out  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
young  men  and  young  women,  unqualified  for  work  .  .  .  flooding  the 
market,  lowering  wages  as  well  as  standards  of  work." 

Chicago,  April  22,  1912. 
Gentlemen: 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  passed  by  the  City  Council  of  Chicago, 
a  Special  Commission  has  been  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  "to  investigate  the 
causes,  extent  and  effects  of  unemployment  and  to  ascertain  what  can  be  done 
to  more  effectually  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  and  unemployed,  and 
provide  employment  either  in  public  or  private  undertakings  for  the  many 
men  who  may  hereafter  be  out  of  work  in  the  City  of  Chicago." 

Actual  facts  from  numerous  reliable  sources  are  indispensable  to  the 
work  of  this  Commission  and  we  shall  rely  upon  companies  like  yours  to 
furnish  us  with  authentic  data.  We  hope  that  you  will  appreciate  our  need 
of  your  earnest  co-operation  in  a  work  which,  if  properly  done,  will  redound 
to  the  benefit  of  employer,  employee  and  our  whole  community. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Dr.  R.  A.  White. 
Edward  Tilden. 
Oscar  G.  Mayer, 
Chairman   of   Subcommittee. 

QUESTIONS  TO   EMPLOYERS 

1.  (a)     Give  the  average  number  of  your  employees  during  the  winter 
of   1911-1912. 

(b)  The  previous  winter. 

(c)  Two  winters  ago. 

2.  (a)     During  1911  how  many  days  was  your  plant  working  full  time? 

(b)  How  many  days  part  time? 

(c)  How  many  days  idle  and  what  was  the  reason  for  closing  down? 

3.  (a)     What  are  the  main  reasons  for  the  fluctuations  in  the  number  of 
your   employees? 

(b)     In  what  class  or  kind  of  labor  are  these  fluctuations  most  notice- 
able? 

4.  (a)     How  does  the  number  of  men  quitting  voluntarily  during  1911-1912 
compare  with  former  years? 

(b)  How  does  the  number  of  discharges  for  cause  during  1911-1912  com- 
pare with  former  years? 

(c)  How  does  the  number  laid  off   (on  account  of  lack  of  work  only) 
during  1911-1912  compare  with  former  years? 

5.  Did   more  men   seek  employment  from  you   last  winter   than   in 
former  years?     Give  reasons. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 47 

6.  If  busy  in  one  department  and  slack  in  another  is  it  possible  to 
transfer  help  rather  than  discharge  and  hire  new  men? 

7.  What  is  your  method  of  paying  employees — Weekly  or  monthly? 
By  cash  or  checks?     Give  reasons. 

8.  (a)     Are  your  works  wholly  or  party  unionized  or  neither? 

(b)  If  partly,  which  branches  are  and  which  are  not  unionized? 

9.  (a)     Do  you  employ  female  help? 
(-b)     How  many? 

(c)  At  what  class  of  work? 

(d)  Do  you  employ  married  women? 

(e)  How  many? 

(f)  To  what  extent  do  you  employe  women  at  work  formerly  done 
by  men,  and  your  reason  for  doing  so? 

10.  (a)     What  are  the  prevailing  nationalities  among  your  employees? 

(b)  Are   your   employees    reasonably    skilled,    intelligent,    steady   and 
sober? 

(c)  Describe  their  general  character. 

(d)  What  is  their  average  age? 

11.  (a)     Have  your  employees  as  an  average  any  "surplus  fund";    that  is, 
do  they  own  homes,  have  they  savings  accounts  or  credit  to  tide  them  over 
slack  times? 

(b)  Have  you  a  system  of  helping  needy  new  employees  by  means 
of  a  commissary,  through  arrangements  with  a  boarding-house,  or  through 
"on  account"  payments  on  their  wages? 

12.  (a)     Can  you  always  get  all  the  help  you  want? 

(b)  What  kind  of  labor  do  you  find  scarce? 

(c)  What  kind  is  over  supplied? 

13.  How  do  you  get  your  help — 

(a)  Through  a  public  employment  agency? 

(b)  Private  employment  agency?, 

(c)  Through  the  newspaper? 

(d)  By  application  at  your  plant? 

(e)  By  recommendation  of  your  employees? 
(f  )  Reasons  for  your  choice? 

14.  (a)  Would  you   favor   employment  exchanges   under  public   manage- 
ment such  as  are  operating  with  great  success  in  Europe? 

(b)  What  features  about  such  exchanges  would  you  recommend? 

(c)  If    the    Commission    recommended    a    system    of    efficient    State 
Labor  Exchanges  would  you  be  willing  to  patronize  them? 

15.  General. — Any  facts  relating  to  unemployment  and  suggestions  as 
to  means  of  reducing  this  evil  and  wisely  assisting  those  out  of  work  are 
solicited  by  the  Commission.  State  fully. 

II.     REPORTS  OF  SUB-COMMITTEES. 

2.     Employment  Agencies. 

a)  Private  Employment  Agencies. 

b)  Labor  Bureaus  Not  Operating  F'or  Profit. 


48  REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

PRIVATE  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES  IN  CHICAGO 

On  March  29,  1912,  there  were  in  operation  in  Chicago,  249  private  em- 
ployment agencies,  which  charged  fees  for  positions  and  consequently  were 
licensed.  These  agencies  deal  principally  with  the  following  kinds  of  help: 

No.  of  Agencies 

Domestic  (including  restaurant  and  hotel  help) 81 

Labor   (including  a  few  skilled  laborers) 59 

Theatrical     41 

General  (all  kinds  of  labor,  both  sexes) 17 

Clerical  and   mercantile • 18 

Nurses  13 

Teachers  8 

Hotel  and   restaurant 6 

Barbers     , 3 

Printers     1 

Architects     1 

Choir    1 

Total 249 

In  addition  there  had  been  licensed  during  the  year  ending  April  1,  1912, 
seventeen  other  agencies  which  had  ceased  or  never  begun  operations;  the 
general  explanation  of  this  fact  is  the  lack  of  success  of  such  agencies. 

Within  each  of  the  classes  of  agencies  mentioned  above  there  is  generally 
considerable  specialization;  some  of  the  domestic  agencies  deal  almost  ex- 
clusively with  private  families;  others  almost  entirely  with  one  line  of  restau- 
rants or  hotels;  others  with  clubs.  Some  of  the  mercantile  agencies  deal 
almost  entirely  with  the  positions  requiring  considerable  clerical  skill  'and 
paying  more  than  $1,000  a  year;  others  deal  principally  with  positions  that 
pay  $6  to  $14  a  week.  The  Greafr  Northern  Railway  Labor  Exchange  hires 
men  only  for  the  Great  Northern  and  Burlington  railways.  Some  deal  almost 
exclusively  with  one  nationality. 

A  more  detailed  description  of  the  methods  used,  the  efficiency  and  the 
fees  of  these  classes  of  agencies  is  given.  This  is  based  on  an  investigation 
of  a  few  agencies  of  each  kind. 

A.  Labor  Agencies :  The  labor  agencies  deal  almost  entirely  with  un- 
skilled labor ;  most  of  these  agencies  are  situated  on  Canal  Street  and  on  Madi- 
son near  Canal.  There  are  a  few  agencies  which  deal  with  more  skilled  labor, 
situated  in  the  loop  district;  most  of  the  skilled  laborers,  however,  secure 
their  positions  through  their  trade  unions  or  by  newspapers  or  personal 
solicitation. 

The  positions  to  which  the  laborers  are  sent  are  principally  in  railway 
and  construction  work;  a  great  part  of  this  is  outside  of  the  city.  Mr.  Clapp 
of  the  firm  of  Clapp,  Norstrom  and  Riley,  stated  that  a  restriction  of  immigra- 
tion would  be  disastrous  to  the  industry  of  the  country;  when  anything  is 
moving  now  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the  labor  agencies  to  secure  laborers 
enough  to  supply  the  demands  of  employers.  Mr.  Dodge,  who  is  an  agent  of 
the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railway  Company  of  Alabama,  stated  that  in- 
dustry in  that  region,  and  in  other  regions  also,  is  starving  for  labor.  It  is 
impossible  to  secure  help  enough.  Mr.  M.  T.  Todorovich  of  the  International 
Labor  Agency,  stated  that  he  had  had  a  standing  order  for  two  years  and  a 
half  for  all  the  laborers  he  could  send  to  the  West,  and  that  he  was  not  able 
to  send  nearly  enough.  Most  of  the  industries  in  which  this  scarcity  is  found 
have  wages  fixed  at  about  $1.50  a  day.  The  work  is  done  almost  entirely  by 
foreigners;  the  Americans  are  not  sent  out  on  such  work  (1)  because  they 
would  leave  the  work  at  harvest  time  for  better  wages.  (2)  they  will  not 
board  themselves  as  the  foreigners  will,  (3)  they  complain  about  the  condi- 
tions of  work. '(4)  they  are  more  likely  to  misuse  the  transportation  given  to 
them.  Several  agents  stated  "Show  me  an  American  laborer,  and  I  will  show 
you  a  bum." 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT        49 

There  are  various  methods  used  by  these  agencies  to  secure  work.  Some 
of  them  are  evidently  offices  of  railway  .companies.  The  Great  Northern 
Railway  Labor  Agency  secures  all  the  labor  for  the  Great  Northern  and  the 
Burlington  routes,  either  directly  or  through  other  labor  agencies  when  it 
cannot  secure  enough  directly;  it  does  no  other  work  than  the  hiring  of  men 
for  these  two  systems.  Mr.  Stamidtetus  is  reported  to  have  secured  a  right 
to  place  all  laborers  on  the  Northwestern  system,  in  return  for  which  he  guar- 
antees the  Northwestern  road  that  the  laborers  will  pay  at  least  $75rOOO  a  year 
in  transportation.  This  work  on  the  Northwestern  is  sublet  to  other  agencies 
to  a  very  great  extent;  the  Great  Northern  Railway  Labor  Agency  does  not 
sublet  its  contracts  until  it  is  unable  to  secure  laborers  enough.  The  other 
labor  agents  are  much  more  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  Stamidtetus  agencies, 
because  they  thus  have  a  chance  to  place  men  on  the  Northwestern  system 
in  the  good  as  well  as  the  bad  seasons.  When  these  contracts  are  sublet, 
the  fees  are  divided  between  the  agencies  concerned. 

In  addition  to  such  standing  contracts  with  firms  or  contractors,  there 
have  been  built  up  personal  attachments  and  reputations,  which  are  influ- 
ential in  securing  contracts  to  fill  positions. 

There  are  also  charges  that  the  labor  agents  secure  such  contracts  by 
payment  of  part  of  the  fees  to  the  boss  or  foremen  who  hire  the  men  for 
the  firm. 

The  labor  exchanges  advertise,  and  circularize  in  order  to  secure  and 
keep  th&ir  trade.  They  make  very  great  efforts  to  secure  the  men  that  are 
demanded  by  the  employers;  frequently  the  fees  are  remitted  in  order  to  se- 
cure laborers  enough  to  meet  the  demands;  sometimes  transportation,  is  paid, 
meals  given  and  other  means,  which  will  be  mentioned  below,  used  in  order 
to  secure  laborers  enough.  The  principle  of  their  business  is  to  secure  labor- 
ers at  any  cost  in  order  to  hold  the  trade  of  the  employers.  The  employers 
do  not  pay  any  fees  for  this  service,  but  they  are  the  ones  whose  trade  must 
be  held. 

The  method  of  getting  men  is  really  an  indirect  method ;  it  is  done  largely 
through  interpreters;  if  an  agency  has  an  opening  for  50  men  in  railway  work, 
the  agent  sends  for  the  interpreter  of  some  gang;  it  is  generally  reported 
that  he  offers  a  certain  amount  to  the  interpreter  for  a  gang  of  50  men;  this 
may  be  50c  a  head,  or  $1.00  a  head  or  even  more.  The  interpreter  then  picks 
up  the  50  men4  if  satisfactory  conditions  are  secured,  takes  them  to  the  agency 
to  sign  the  contract  and  secure  numbers,  conducts  them  to  the  stations  and 
manages  their  transportation  for  them.  This  interpreter  may  change  the 
entire  gang  in  a  short  time  in  order  to  secure  another  fee;  frequently  a  gang 
will  work  through  the  entire  summer  without  a  change.  The  work  generally 
lasts  from  April  to  December. 

When  the  interpreters  known  to  the  agents  have  all  gone  out  with  their 
gangs  and  other  demands  for  laborers  come  in  to  them,  they  have  to  make 
vigorous  efforts  to  secure  men.  Most  railroads  refuse  to  accept  "white  men" 
for  their  construction  work.  A  few  scattered  foreigners  can  be  secured  by 
personal  solicitation,  but  generally  not  nearly  enough.  Mr.  M.  T.  Todorovich, 
of  the  International  Labor  Agency,  stated  that  he  had  fourteen  solicitors  in 
the  field  last  summer  attempting  to  secure  laborers:  these  solicitors  go  to  the 
gangs  on  other  railroads  and  'steal'  them  if  possible;  if  they  cannot  get  them 
thus,  the  solicitors  go  to  the  east  or  south  and  bring  laborers;  he  may  need 
to  go  to  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Orleans,  or  some  other  parts  of  the 
United  States,  but  he  secures  the  men,  if  it  is  possible  to  secure  them  at  any 
cost.  When  men  are  brought  from  the  mines  or  factories  of  New  York  or 
Pennsylvania  or  other  states,  the  agent  advances  their  transportation  to  Chi- 
cago, feeds  them  on  the  way,  gives  them  the  job  without  office  fees,  gives 
them  free  transportation  to  the  place  where  they  are  needed,  and  uses  any 
other  means  possible  to  get  them.  The  following  figures  show  what  was 
done  in  one  agency  in  the  last  two  years: 


50 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

Men    Placed   by   Clapp,    Norstrom   and    Riley. 

In  the  year  ending  Nov.  1 

1910  1911 

Foreigners  without  fees 370  157 

Foreigners  with  fees 7,184  5,199 

Total  foreigners   7,554  5.356 

"White  men"  without  fees 2,288  3.679 

"White  men"  with  fees 10,066  6.482 

Total  "white  men" 12,354  10.161 

Total,  all  men  placed 19,908  15,517 

Thousands  of  dollars  are  advanced  for  transportation;  most  of  this  is  to 
foreigners;  the  reason  it  is  not  advanced  to  "white  men"  is  that  the  Ameri- 
cans cannot  be  depended  on  to  do  the  work  when  they  reach  the  destination. 

The  fees  charged  depend  entirely  on  the  supply  of  labor  accessible.  It 
is  as  high  as  $15  at  some  times;  in  other  seasons  there  is  no  fee.  The  most 
usual  fees  are  $4  to  $6  in  the  spring,  and  $2  to  $4  a  little  later.  The  average 
fee  of  Clapp,  Norstrom  and  Riley  in  1910  was  $1.36.  In  the  spring  the  men 
have  to  pay  the  cost  of  transportation;  this  generally  amounts  to  not  more 
than  $4  east  of  the  Missouri  River,  and  a  flat  rate  of  $6  for  all  places  west  of 
the  Missouri  River.  They  get  the  same  rate  back  if  they  work  for  six  months. 

The  expenses  of  the  labor  office  of  Clapp,  Norstrom  and  Riley  are  about 
$600  a  month;  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway  Labor  Agency,  abofft  $200  is 
spent  for  rent  alone  each  month,  though  the  office  is  practically  useless  dur- 
ing the  months  from  December  to  March. 

There  is  no  co-operation  between  the  labor  agencies  in  Chicago  and  those 
in  other  cities.  The  reasons  for  this,  as  given  by  the  agents,  are  that  they 
do  not  have  confidence  in  the  other  agencies,  and  they  can  get  the  help  they 
require  more  cheaply  by  sending  a  solicitor  after  it  than  by  dividing  fees 
with  other  employment  agencies.  Two  of  the  agencies  have  branch  offices 
in  other  cities;  these  are  the  Great  Northern  Railway  Labor  Agency  and  the 
Clapp,  Norstrom  and  Riley  Labor  Agency;  the  first  has  other  agencies  in  St. 
Paul,  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  Seattle,  Spokane  and  Portland;  the  second  has 
a  branch  agency  in  Minneapolis. 

B.  Domestic  Agencies :  The  employment  agencies  which  are  principally 
for  unskilled  women  are  generally  known  as  domestic  agencies;  this  does  not 
mean  that  they  place  women  only  in  domestic  positions,  for  in  many  of  these 
agencies  there  is  specialization  on  clubs,  or  restaurants.  The  agencies  furnish 
kitchen  girls,  dish  washers,  scrub  girls,  dining  room  girls,  etc.  Many  of  these 
do  not  make  much  more  than  enough  to  pay  for  the  license;  such  agencies 
are  conducted  in  the  home  of  the  agents  and  as  part  of  the  household  duties. 
There  are  other  domestic  agencies  which  have  been  very  successful  financially. 

The  methods  of  coining  in  contact  tvith  the  employers  are  to  send  letters 
and  circulars  to  managers  of  clubs,  restaurants  and  hotels;  to  answer  news- 
paper advertisements  for  the  girls  who  want  work;  personal  solicitation;  ad- 
vertisement of  the  agency  in  the  papers.  They  depend  very  largely  on  the 
reputation  that  has  been  established.  Most  employers  call  on  the  agencies  to 
secure  help;  the  agency  which  becomes  known  is  the  one  called  on.  Some- 
times an  agency  secures  a  contract  to  place' all  the  female  help  required  in  a 
number  of  restaurants  which  are  under  the  same  management.  Charges  are 
made  that  such  contracts  are  bought.  There  are  charges,  also,  that  when  such 
contracts  are  secured  by  an  agency,  the  women  are  changed  every  few  weeks 
in  order  to  secure  the  additional  fees. 

The  methods  of  securing  the  female  help  are  personal  solicitation,  adver- 
tisements in  newspapers,  and  establishing  a  reputation.  For  the  most  part 
the  girls  come  to  the  agencies  and  not  many  efforts  are  made  to  secure  the 
girls.  There  is  almost  always  a  surplus  of  demands  for  girls  for  domestic 
work  in  private  homes. 

/•>('.«•  are  generally  $1  or  $2  for  registration  of  girls.  This  frequently 
means  that  two  or  three  positions  must  be  secured  for  one  girl  on  the  one 
registration.  The  girl  may  not  like  the  first  position  offered,  may  think  it  is 


REPORT   OF   THE    MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 51 

too  far  from  home,  or  the  hours  unsuitable,  etc.  One  firm  made  a  definite 
offer  to  give  three  jobs  for  one  registration.  For  private  positions  some 
agencies  also  charge  the  family  a  fee  of  from  $2  to  $10.  There  are  complaints 
that  some  agencies  merely  charge  fees  for  registration  and  then  make  few 
efforts  to  place  the  girls  who  have  registered;  the  fees  must  be  returned,  in 
such  cases,  after  thirty  days;  but  many  who  have  registered  do  not  come 
back  for  their  fees. 

One  element  in  the  expense  of  this  kind  of  agency  is  the  cost  of  conduct- 
ing the  girls  to  the  positions;  many  of  the  foreign  girls  are  unable  -to  find 
their  way  to  ihe  places  vacant;  one  agency  has  two  girls  who  are  trained  to 
conduct  several  girls  around  to  the  various  vacancies;  almost  all  the  agencies 
which  deal  with  foreign  girls  have  to  make  similar  provisions.  The  agency 
generally  pays  the  carfare  in  such  cases. 

It  is  not  possible  to  estimate  the  expenses  of  such  agencies,  but  they  are 
not  very  great;  the  rent' and  advertising  cover  most  of  the  expense. 

C.  The  hotel  agency  differs  from  the  domestic  agency  in  dealing  exclusively 
with  hotels,  clubs  and  restaurants,   and  in   including   both  male  and   female  help.' 
There  are  six  agencies  of  this  sort  in  operation  in  Chicago. 

The  hotel  agency  comes  in  contact  with  the  employers  by  advertisements,  cir- 
culars, personal  solicitation,  etc.  Mr.  Lawlor,  the  manager  of  the  Chicago  Hotel 
Employment  Agency,  stated  that  he  had  been  manager  of  a  hotel  for  several  years, 
and  that  he  attended  a  great  many  of  the  meetings  of  hotel  associations  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  in  touch  with  the  hotel  managers.  Close  attention  to  the  de- 
mands and  desires  of  the  hotels  is  the  only  way  of  keeping  the  trade  of  hotels.  Most 
of  the  work  done  by  such  agencies  is  outside  of  Chicago ;  the  hotels  and  restaurants 
in  Chicago  secure  their  help  through  the  domestic  agencies  and  the  trades 
unions. 

The  reputation  of  the  agency  is  the  principal  means  of  securing  the  help;  the 
hotel  employees  change  their  positions  almost  every  spring;  this  is  of  advantage 
to  the  hotel  agencies  for  they  thus  secure  a  supply  of  applications  for  the  summer 
resorts  and  out-of-town  hotels  with  which  they  deal ;  if  help  cannot  be  secured  in 
other  ways,  they  are  "stolen"  from  local  hotels. 

The  fees  depend  on  the  salaries  paid ;  they  vary  from  10%  to  25%  of  the  first 
month's  salary;  for  a  salary  of  $100  the  fee  is  generally  10%.  The  transportation 
charges  are  advanced  to  the  employee,  and  then  taken  from  the  wages :  this  is  a 
source  of  considerable  loss  to  the  agency,  for  many  of  the  employees  secure  trans- 
portation to  a  position,  and  then  do  not  take  it. 

There  is  much  more  expense  attached  to  such  an  agency  than  to  the  domestic 
agencies ;  there  must  be  much  correspondence,  many  telegrams  sent,  outside  solicita- 
tion and  advertising. 

There  is  no  co-operation  with  similar  agencies  in  other  cities. 

D.  Clerical  and  Mercantile  Agencies:     The  clerical   and   mercantile  agencies 
are  of  two  rather  distinct  classes:     (1)   those  that  deal  with  the  more  skilled  em- 
ployees, who  can  command  salaries  of  more  than  $1,000  a  year,  and  who  are  genj 
erally  employed  when  they  apply  to  the  agency;  (2)  those  that  deal  with  the  cheaper 
positions,  filled  by  clerks  who  receive  less  than.  $1,000  a  year,  and  who  are  generally 
unemployed  when  they  apply  to  the  agency.     Many  of  the  positions  of  the  first  kind 
are  outside  of  Chicago  and  even  outside  the  state ;  most  of  the  positions  of  the  latter 
type  are  in  Chicago.    The  positions  of  the  first  kind  require  a  very  careful  investiga- 
tion  of  the   record   of  the  applicant   to  obtain  information   on   the   basis   of   which 
recommendations  can  be  made ;  the  employees  of  the  latter  type  are  investigated  in 
only  a  superficial  way ;  this  investigation  is  generally  supplemented  by  an  investiga- 
tion made  by  the  employer  who  intends  to  hire  the  applicant. 

The  agencies  of  both  kinds  have  a  rather  high  development  of  methods  of  learn- 
ing the  needs  of  their  trade;  they  have  offices  in  the  loop;  they  generally  have  sev- 
eral telephones  in  the  offices ;  they  have  a  number  of  solicitors  investigating  the 
positions  and  the  employees.  The  Business  Service  Company  co-operate  with  sim- 
ilar offices  in  Cincinnati,  Denver,  St.  Louis,  Minneapolis  and  a  few  other  cities. 
This  firm  refuses  to  permit  the  cheaper  clerks  to  register,  because  employers  might 
doubt  the  efficiency  of  the  office,  if  such  clerks  were  seen  in  the  waiting  room. 

The  employees  are  secured  by  telephone,  and  by  correspondence,  by  advertising 
in  newspapers  and  by  personal  solicitation.  If  a  firm  makes  a  request  for  a  clerk, 


62 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

the  agency  attempts  to  find  such  a  man ;'  it  makes  no  difference  whether  the  man 
is  already  employed  or  not,  though  the  employed  man  has  the  benefit  in  some  cases ; 
if  the  agency  can  find  the  man  required,  they  attempt  to  induce  him  to  take  the  po- 
sition which  is  open.  There  are  some  agencies  which  refuse  to  take  applicants  who 
are  already  employed ;  they  are  not  able  to  secure  satisfactory  references  from  such 
persons,  because  of  the  danger  of  losing  the  position  held  at  the  time. 

Fees:  The  fees  for  the  better  positions  are  generally  60%  of  the  first  month's 
salary  in  addition  to  a  fee  of  $2  for  registration ;  the  fees  for  the  cheaper  positions 
are  generally  one  week's  pay  if  the  job  lasts  six  weeks  or  more;  if  the  work  is  tem- 
porary, the  fee  varies  from  one-tenth  to  one-sixth  of  the  amount  received.  If  the 
position  is  out  of  town,  the  transportation  is  sometimes  advanced;  sometimes  the 
employer  pays  this  transportation. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  in  collecting  these  fees ;  the  agencies  which 
deal  with  cheaper  help  are  able  to  have  the  wages  assigned  to  them,  but  the  other 
agencies  do  not  follow  this  course,  (1)  because  it  would  show  that  the  agency  did 
not  trust  the  men  whom  they  were  recommending,  and  (2)  because  they  do  not  wish 
to  bother  the  employers.  One  firm  has  over  $4(000  on  its  books  now  in  fees  due. 
Many  of  the  applicants  who  are  referred  to  vacant  positions  do  not  apply  for  the 
positions;  this  gives  the  agency  a  bad  reputation,  and  causes  a  great  deal  of  difficulty; 
man}'  persons  who  are  placed  in  the  cheaper  positions  do  not  hold  them  long ;  one 
firm  estimated  that  the  average  position  was  held  for  about  six  months.  King's 
Mercantile  Agency  has  more  trouble  with  the  employers  than  with  the  employees ;  a 
firm  calls  up  several  agencies  and  gives  an  order  to  each ;  each  agency  sends  a  man 
and  the  first  satisfactory  man  who  reaches  the  office  gets  the  position.  Charges 
are  made  that  some  of  these  clerical  agencies  place  large  advertisements  in  the 
newspapers,  and  secure  a  great  many  applications  from  the  unemployed, 
when  they  really  have  few  positions  which  they  can  fill;  each  applicant  regis- 
ters and  pays  a  fee  of  $2.00;  this  fee  cannot  be  returned  for  thirty  days  unless 
the  agency  chooses  to  pay  it  back  sooner;  many  of  the  applicants  do  not  take 
the  trouble  to  secure  the  return  of  their  fee,  though  they  consider  the  practice 
unjust. 

Mr.  King  stated  that  he  did  not  co-operate  with  offices  in  other  cities,  because 
nine-tenths  of  them  are  bad. 

The  expenses  of  these  mercantile  offices  are  generally  high ;  the  rent  is  generally 
from  $200  to  $500  a  month ;  several  of  the  offices  have  five  or  six  telephones  each  ; 
the  expenses  of  the  work  outside  the  city  are  very  great ;  the  Business  Service  Co. 
recently  spent  $18  in  telegrams  in  regard  to  one  position ;  the  cost  of  securing  in- 
formation on  which  to  base  recommendations  is  great. 

E.  The  general  employment  exchange  is  a  combination  of  the  labor  agency 
and  the  clerical  agency ;  it  deals  with  both  men  and  women.     They  have  a  great 
deal  of  work  in  skilled  trades,  also.     The  La  Salle  Employment  Agency  and  the 
American  Employment  Association  are  examples  of  this  kind  of  agency.     There  is 
nothing  in  their  methods  that  differs  from  the  methods  in  the  agencies  described 
above.     Their  fees  are  generally  either  a  flat  rate  of  $5  for  any  position,  or  else 
a  percent  of  the  first  month's  salary,  with  $5  as  a  general  maximum.     Many  of 
these  fees  are  never  paid.     In  the  La  Salle  Employment  Agency  there  are  hardly 
ever  enough  women  to  satisfy  the  demands  for  domestic  and  clerical  positions,  and 
in  both  the  La  Salle  Employment  Agency  and  the  American  Employment  Associa- 
tion, it  has  been  possible,  according  to  the  statements  of  the  managers,  to  secure, 
either  immediately  or  within  three  days,  work  of  some  kind  for  any  applicant  who 
wanted  to  work ;  they  state  that  most  of  their  applicants  who  do  not  secure  work 
fail  because  ,they  do  not  want  to  work,  or  else  because  they  are  .too  particular 
about  the  conditions  of  work, — refuse  to  work  at  night,  or  at  the  wages  offered, 
or  at  the  kind  of  work  offered. 

Each  of  the  agencies  mentioned  above  has  seven  or  eight  telephones ;  each 
morning  the  telephone  operator  calls  up  the  regular  patrons  of  the  agency  and 
asks  if  men  or  women  are  wanted,  the  nature  and  conditions  of  the  work,  etc. 
These  agencies  have  developed  the  technique  of  their  business  more  than  the  regu- 
lar labor  or  domestic  exchanges  have. 

F.  Teachers'  agencies  are  engaged  in  business  which  is  mostly  interstate :  the 
applications  are  located  in  every  state  in  the  Union,  and  positions  are  filled  in  every 
state.     About  one-tenth  of  the  applicants  secure  positions ;  this  small  percentage  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  many  applicants  register  at  several  offices,  many  secure  posi- 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  53 

tions  through  their  own  efforts;  and  many  go  into  other  occupations.  Such  work 
requires  considerable  advertising  among  school  officials  and  prospective  teachers. 
In  these  agencies  ten  to  fifteen  clerks  are  generally  employed.  The  total  expense 
of  the  Thurston  Agency  for  a  year  is  about  $13,000.  The  ordinary  fee  is  5%  of 
the  first  year's  salary,  plus  $2  registration  fee ;  the  Thurston  Agency  has  almost 
entirely  done  away  with  this  registration  fee  in  order  to  increase  the  number  of 
applicants. 

G.  Theatrical  agencies  are  more  than  employment  agencies ;  they  not  only  se- 
cure the  initial  position  for  actors,  but  have  the  entire  management  of  the  act 
during  the  season,  keep  it  moving  from  one  theatre  to  another, — the  theatres  at 
which  it  appears  generally  being  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  agency. 

The  agents  must  also  inspect  the  act  when  it  is  first  presented,  determine  its 
worth,  and  place  it  with  reference  to  the  tastes  of  the  communities  in  which  the 
theatres  of  their  line  are  located.  Most  of  this  work  is  interstate  business ;  only 
about  5%  of  the  actors  engaged  live  in  Chicago,  and  about  S%  more  in  the  rest 
of  Illinois ;  the  acts  are  sent  over  the  states  of  the  Middle  West  for  the  most  part, 
but  to  some  extent  to  other  states.  The  Western  Vaudeville  Managers'  Association 
is  the  largest  agency  in  the  theatrical  line  in  the  United  States.  It  rents  three 
floors  in  the  Majestic  Theatre  building,  at  $5,000  each ;  it  employs  69  clerks,  at  a 
total  weekly  salary  of  about  $1,500;  it  books  all  the  acts  for  147  theatres  which  are 
in  its  circuit.  The  ordinary  fee  is  5%  of  all  salary  received. 

H.  Nurses'  agencies  are  similar  to  theatrical  agencies  in  not  only  securing  the 
initial  position,  but  in  keeping  the  nurses  employed ;  the  nature  of  their  work  is 
such  that  they  can  be,  engaged  ordinarily  at  one  place  only  for  a  short  time ;  the 
agency  undertakes  to  secure  a  continuity  in  positions.  The  registration  fee  is 
generally  $2,  and  in  addition  there  is  a  commission  of  5%  of  the  entire  salary 
received  while  registered.  Most  of  this  work  is  confined  to  Chicago. 

Suggestions  from  methods  of  private  agencies.  This  description  of  the  meth- 
ods used  by  private  employment  agencies  shows  several  explanations  of  their  suc- 
cess:  (1)  The  successful  agencies  have  generally  been  in  business  for  over  10 
years ;  this  means  that  they  have  established  a  reputation ;  it  is  as  important  for  an 
employment  agency  to  be  known  to  its  patrons  as  it  is  for  any  mercantile  establish- 
ment. There  are  thousands  of  people  who  do  not  know  there  is  a  state  employment 
•agency  in  Chicago,  and  thousands  more  who  do  not  know  there  are  three  agencies 
of  that  kind  in  Chicago. 

(2)  Advertisements  and  circulars  describing  the  nature  of  the  work  done  by 
the  private  agencies  are  frequently  sent  out  to  patrons ;  the  agencies  attempt  to 
secure  a  definite  list  of  patrons,  to  hold  them,  and  to  enlarge  the  list. 

(3)  Personal   solicitation   is   as   important  an   element  in  the   success   of   the 
private  agencies  as  in  any  other  business.    One  agent  stated  that  he  went  personally 
to  the  patrons  of  his  business  about  once  every  three  months,  in  order  to  keep  them 
acquainted  with  him,  to  learn  whether  they  had  complaints  or  suggestions  to  make, 
etc. 

(4)  The  private  agencies  do  not  hesitate  to  make  expenditures  for  the  sake 
of  keeping  up  their  business.     The  more  successful  agencies  have  seven  or  eight 
telephones,  with  two  or  three  operators ;  they  have  rooms  on  which  the  rent  may  be 
three  or  four  times  as  much   as  on  the  offices  of  the   State  Employment  Office; 
they  have  a  number  of  solicitors  in  the  field  all  the  time  drumming  up  trade;  in 
some  cases  they  send  these  solicitors  to  distant  states  to  secure  laborers :  they  ad- 
vance the  money  required  for  transportation  to  the  place  where  the  employment  is 
to  be  had  ;  the  agency  of  Clapp,  Norstrom  and  Riley  has  equipped  a   free  pool- 
room,— with  tables  for  cards,  and  with  a  toilet,' — in  which  the  men  may  stay  while 
they  are  waiting  for  jobs;  there  were  at  least  200  men  in  this  room  when  it  was 
visited ;    some    of   the    agencies    hire   persons    to  conduct   the   unemployed    to    the 
vacancies. 

The  entire  explanation  of  the  success  of  the  private  employment  agencies  is 
that  they  have  used  business  methods  and  have  made  expenditures  in  order  to  se- 
cure and  hold  the  trade  of  their  patrons,  by  doing  their  work  more  efficiently  than 
other  agencies  do  it.  The  State  Employment  Agency  has  made  a  comparative 
failure  because  it  has  failed  to  use  such  methods. 

The  attitude  of  the  employment  agents  toward  their  work.  The  employment 
agents  quite  generally  expressed  themselves  to  the  following  effect:  (1)  The 
private  employment  agents  are  necessary  in  our  present  system ;  they  are  performing 


54 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

a  very  useful  work ;  they  save  time  and  trouble  for  both  employers  and  employees. 
(2)  The  employment  agencies  as  a  class  are  justified;  people  generally  criticise  all 
employment  agents  without  reference  to  the  differences  in  the  methods;  there  are 
some  unscrupulous  agents  in  this  business,  but  as  a  class  employment  agents  are 
not  more  unscrupulous  than  bankers,  or  merchants.  (3)  It  should  be  made  more 
difficult  for  agents  to  secure  licenses  to  run  employment  offices ;  this  would,  shut 
out  a  good  many  of  the  good-for-nothing  agencies ;  would  make  inspection  of  the 
existing  agencies  easier;  and  would  tend  to  establish  the  employment  agencies  as 
a  reputable  and  necessary  business. 

The  attitude  of  the  employment  agents  torvard  the  State  Employment  Office. 
The  private  employment  agents  expressed  their  general  attitude  toward  state  em- 
ployment agencies  as  follows:  (1)  The  State  Employment  Agency  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  the  private  agencies  if  it  were  successful  enough  to  get  employers  in  the 
habit  of  getting  their  employees  through  agencies,  rather  than  depending  on  the 
crowd  of  surplus  unemployed  at  their  gates ;  but  at  the  present  time  some  of  the 
large  firms, — such  as  the  International  Harvester  Company,  the  Steel  Mills,  etc. — 
employ  more  new  men  in  one  day  than  all  the  men  placed  through  the  private, 
state  and  charitable  agencies  of  the  city  in  a  day.  (2)  The  state  agency  can  not 
succeed  in  this  country  because  of  the  feeling  of  independence  of  the  people :  they 
will  not  patronize  a  free  agency,  because  it  is  regarded  as  charity :  only  -those  who 
are  "down-and-out"  will  go  to  it ;  since  these  applicants  are  inefficient,  the  employ- 
ers will  not  patronize  it  except  as  a  last  extremity. 

The  answer  to  these  last  objections  made  by  the  employment  agents  is:  (1) 
The  employers  of  the  city  have  as  much  independence  as  the  employees ;  neverthe- 
less, the  employers  get  almost  all  their  help  free  through  the  private  agencies ;  it 
is  only  in  exceptional  cases,  such  as  domestic  service,  that  fees  are  paid  by  em- 
ployers ;  in  some  cases  the  employer  gets  a  part  of  the  fee  paid  by  the  unemployed ; 
the  service  to  the  employer  is  just  as  great  as  the  service  to  the  employee ;  the 
employee  has  to  pay  for  it.  This  is  charity  to  the  employer,  which  his  feeling  of 
independence  does  not  prevent  him  from  accepting. 

(2)  Many  of  the  private  agencies  charge  no  fees  when  it  is  difficult  to  secure 
labor;  in  summer  time  the  labor  agencies  make  very  great  efforts  and  offer  large 
inducements  to  laborers  in  order  to  get  them  to  come  to  their  offices;  they  offer 
free  transportation,  charge  no   fees,  give  them   provisions  while  they  are  on  the' 
way  to  the  place  of  work,  and  offer  other  inducements ;  if  it  were  true  that  the 
"feeling  of  independence"  would  prevent  the  laborers  from  taking  something  for 
nothing,  these  methods  would  keep  laborers  away  from  the  offices. 

(3)  A  state  employment  office  or  a  city  employment  office  is  no  more  charity 
than  the  public  schools;  both  employers  and  employees  contribute  through  taxation 
to -its  support.     It  was  prophesied  that  self-respecting  people  would  not  send  their 
children  to  charitable  institutions,  such  as  public  schools;  it  is  soon  realized  that 
they  are  not  charitable  institutions,  but  are  public  institutions,  in  the  control  and 
management  of  which  the  people  are  justified  in  demanding  a  part. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


55 


FEES  CHARGED  AND   ROUGH   ESTIMATES  OF  THE  NUMBER  OF 

POSITIONS  FILLED  BY  PRIVATE  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES 

OF  CHICAGO  IN   1911. 


Kind  of  Agency 

Positions 
Filled 

Fees 

Labor   agencies: 
Great    Northern    .... 

12,000-15,000 

4    to    $6    when    laborers    are    plenty;    no 

Balkan  Labor   Agency 
International    

10  000 

fees   when  scarce. 
Same    fees   as   Great   Northern. 
$6    to    $8    when    laborers    are    plenty;    no 
fees    when    scarce. 
$10    to    nothing. 

Clapp,    Norstrom    and 
Kilev               

15,517 

$15  to   nothing;   the  average  fee  for   1910 
was   $1.36. 

Domestic: 
Schmidt   Empl.    Ag.  ... 

Kaliszewski   Emp.   Ag. 
Rutlowski          

4,000 

150 
2,500 

$2  for  girls;   $2  to  $10  of  private  families 
asking   for   girls. 
Same  as  Schmidt. 
$2  paid  by  girls. 

Koinnik          

300 

$1   to  $2  paid  by  girls. 

Hotel: 
Chicago   Empl.    Ag.  ... 

Clerical  and  mercantile: 

2,000-3,000 
700 

10%   to  25%   of  first  month's  salary. 
2%   for  positions   paving  less   than    $1,500 

Fulton-Lange  
Business   Serv.   Co.... 

King's   Mercantile  Ag. 

Merchants'    Cler.    Exc. 
Theatrical    agencies: 
Western   Vaudeville  .. 
International   
Doutrick   

400-500 

60    per    day    In 
good    times 

6,000-8,000 
200    per    week 
500   per  week 

per    year    to    4%    for    positions    paying 
more  than  $3,600  per  year;  7.5%   of  sal- 
ary   received    for    temporary    positions. 
Registration    fee    of    $2;    from    one    week's 
salary    for    positions    paying    less    than 
$15    per   week   to.  60%    of   first   month's 
salary  for  more  than  $1,200  per  year. 
Registration    fee     of     $2:     60f/f      of     first 
month's     salary     for     permanent     posi- 
tions;   10%  of  salary  for  temporary   po- 
sitions. 
One  week's   pay;    one-sixth   of   salary   for 
temporary   work. 

One  week's  pay. 

5%    of  salary. 
5%    of  salary. 
5%    of  salary. 

Friedenwald   
Nurses   agencies    

1,000-1,200 

5%    of  salary. 

Teachers'    agencies: 
Thurston's  

500-700 

5%   of  vear's   salary. 

Brewer   

400-500 

5%   of  year's  salary    -f-    $2. 

Albert  

500-700 

5%  of  year's  salary   -4-   $2. 

A  REPORT  ON  SOME  LABOR  BUREAUS  IN  CHICAGO  NOT 
OPERATING   FOR  PROFIT. 

By  Mr.  R.  W.  Foley. 

The  investigation  upon  which  this  report  is  based  was  made  during  the  months 
of  April,  May  and  June,  1912.  among  25  organizations.  Some  among  the  number 
are  doing  a  work  so  similar  as  to  admit  of  a  distinct  classification  by  themselves, 
but  because  as  a  whole  the  work  done  by  the  organizations  is  so  miscellaneous 
they  will  for  the  most  part  be  considered  as  a  miscellaneous  whole. 

The  organizations  visited  are  as  follows :  The  Volunteers  of  America,  1201- 
1213  West  \Vashington  Street;  The  American  Salvation  Army,  1816  Lake  Street; 
The  Chicago  Christian  Industrial  League.  10-14  East  Twelfth  Street;  The  Salva- 
tion Army  Industrial  Home,  211  North  Green  Street;  The  Parting  of  the  Ways 
Home,  corner  22nd  and  Clark;  The  Central  Howard  Association,  509  Monadnock 
Block,  312  South  Dearborn  Street:  The  Chicago  Typothetae,  53  West  Jackson 
Boulevard;  The  National  Founders'  Association,  room  842,  29  South  LaSalle  Street; 


56 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

The  Metal  Trades  Employment  Bureau,  115  South  Dearborn  Street;  The  Remington 
Employment  Agency,  35  South  Wabash ;  The  Underwood  Typewriter  Company 
Employment  Agency,  14  South  Wabash;  The  L.  C.  Smith  Brothers'  Employment 
Bureau,  123  North  Wabash;  The  Chicago  Business  College,  132  North  Wabash; 
The  Metropolitan  Business  College,  37  South  Wabash ;  The  United  Charities,  165 
North  LaSalle  Street;  The  Masonic  Employment  Agency,  159  North  State  Street; 
The  Fellowship  Association  Royal  League,  1607  Masonic  Temple ;  The  Negro  Fel- 
lowship League  Employment  Agency,  2830  South  State  Street ;  The  Catholic  Wom- 
an's League,  7  West  Madison  Street;  The  Swedish  National  Association,  107  North 
Dearborn  Street ;  The  Swedish  American  Employment  Agency,  465  West  Chicago 
Avenue ;  The  Norwegian  National  League  Employment  Bureau,  2742  West  North 
Avenue;  The  B'nai  B'rith  Free  Employment  Agency,  720  West  Twelfth  Street;  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Employment  Bureau,  830  South  Michigan  Boulevard ;  Malcolm  Mc- 
Dowell, Agent,  125  West  Monroe  Street. 

The  first  four  organizations  named  in  this  list,  namely,  The  Volunteers  of 
America,  The  American  Salvation  Army,  The  Chicago  Christian  Industrial  League 
and  the  Salvation  Army  Industrial  Home  are  alike  in  that  they  all  support  them- 
selves wholly  or  in  large  part  (/.  e.  in  the  department  where  wagons  are  used) 
by  the  sale  of  various  articles  collected  from  all  parts  of  the  city  by  wagons.  In 
the  Volunteers  of  America  regular  men  are  employed  to  drive  the  wagons,  but  in 
the  other  three  organizations  the  drivers  and  other  workers  in  the  department, 
including  paper  and  rag  assorters  and  furniture  repairers,  are  transients,  needy  and 
without  work,  to  whom  work  is  given  for  a  time  until  other  employment  can  be 
secured.  In  all  four  of  these  cases  the  employment  department  itself  is  only  a 
part  of  the  whole  work  done  by  the  organizations.  Much  of  their  employment 
work  is  done  as  a  means  of  temporary  relief. 

The  Parting  of  the  Ways  Home  gives  temporary  lodging  and  board,  and  in 
most  instances  clothes  to  men  discharged  from  the  Bridewell  and  other  penal  insti- 
tutions, and  secures  employment  for  them  as  nearly  as  possible  suited  to  their 
capabilities.  The  Central  Howard  Association  secures  employment  for  and  other- 
wise assists  men  discharged  from  penal  institutions,  and  men  on  probation  and  on 
parole. 

The  Chicago  Typothetae,  The  National  Founders'  Association,  and  The  Metal 
Trades  Employment  Bureau  are  labor  bureaus  operated  by  Employers'  Associations 
for  the  benefit  of  the  members  in  the  Association,  with  the  object  to  be  able  to 
secure  at  all  times  sufficient  open-shop  labor  so  that  the  employer  will  not  be  in  the 
grasp  of  the  labor  unions. 

The  Chicago  Business  College  and  the  Metropolitan  Business  College  are  repre- 
sentative of  the  labor  exchanges  necessary  for  the  placing  of  graduates  from  such 
schools  into  active  business  life. 

The  Remington  Employment  Agency,  The  Underwood  Typewriter  Company 
Employment  Agency,  and  the  L.  C.  Smith  Brothers  Employment  Bureau  furnish  a 
clearing  house  for  typists  and  stenographers  and  employers  of  such  labor.  These 
bureaus  are  placed  under  the  heading  "Bureaus  not  for  Profit,"  but  in  reality  they 
are  operated  directly  for  advertising  purposes  to  the  end  that  more  machines  may 
be  sold  to  the  public. 

The  work  done  by  Malcolm  McDowell,  as  acting  agent  for  some  private  parties 
interested  in  the  labor  problem  and  the  "down  and  outs"  needs  special  mention. 
Mr.  McDowell's  bread-line  of  last  winter  and  his  provision  of  w.arm  clothes  to 
make  it  possible  for  many  unemployed  to  work  in  the  ice  fields  and  elsewhere  and 
his  activity  in  securing  shelter  on  cold  nights  for  many  without  a  comfortable  place 
to  sleep  has  been  in  part,  at  least,  the  means  of  awakening  the  city  of  Chicago  to 
the  need  of  serious  thought  about  the  problem  of  unemployment,  as  evidenced  by 
the  appointment  of  a  Commission  to  study  the  Nature  and  Extent  of  Unemployment 
in  the  City. 

Brief  mention  will  be  made  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  other  organizations  visited. 
The  United  Charities  seeks  employment  for  people  only  as  a  means  of  relief.  Some- 
times it  pays  the  fee  for  the  use  of  one  of  the  regular  agencies  operating  for  profit. 

The  Masonic  Employment  agency  is  operated  for  the  benefit  of  Masons,  the 
Fellowship  Association  Royal  League  for  members  of  the  Royal  League,  the  Negro 
Fellowship  League  Employment  Agency  for  negroes,  the  Catholic  Woman's  League 
for  working  girls  with  a  view  to  protect  them  from  lives  of  prostitution,  the  Swedish 
National  Association  and  the  Swedish-American  Employment  Agency  for  Swedish, 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  57 

Danish,  Norwegian  and  Finnish,  the  Norwegian  National  League  for  Norwegians, 
the  B'nai  B'rith  Free  Employment  Agency  for  Jews,  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  work- 
ing women. 

How  Supported.  Of  the  four  organizations  making  collection  of  old 
materials  by  wagons,  two  are  supported  entirely  by  the  sale  in  stores  of  this  material. 
These  two  are  the  Salvation  Army  Industrial  Home  and  the  American  Salvation 
Army.  The  other  two,  namely  the  Volunteers  of  America  and  the  Chicago  Chris- 
tian Industrial  League,  are  supported  partly  by  the  sale  of  materials  collected  and 
partly  by  voluntary  contribution.  The  three  bureaus  operated  by  employers'  asso- 
ciations are  supported  by  membership  dues,  paid  'by  the  employers  who  are  benefited, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  men  they  have  in  their  employ.  The  business 
colleges  and  typewriter  concerns  pay  directly  out  of  their  treasury  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  their  labor  bureaus,  counting  this  expenditure,  as  has  already  been  indi- 
cated, as  profitable  advertising.  The  other  bureaus  are  supported  either  by  the 
nationality  or  class  or  society  for  whose  benefit  the  bureau  is  maintained,  or  by 
private  contributions  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  interested  in  the  particular  kind 
of  work  supported. 

To  Whom  Accountable.  Each  bureau  is  accountable  either  to  those 
who  give  their  support  to  the  work,  or  to  some  sort  of  board  of  directors  or  mana- 
gers who  attend  to  the  oversight  of  the  use  of  the  funds  placed  in  their  hands. 
In  23  out  of  the  25  bureaus  here  represented  there  is  a  committee  or  board  of 
directors  in  charge  representing  the  people  who  are  behind  the  work. 

Licensed  and  Why.  Only  four  out  of  the  twenty-five  bureaus  have  state 
licenses,  namely:  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  Swedish  American  Employment 
Agency,  the  National  Founders'  Association,  and  the  Chicago  Typothetae.  The 
Swedish  American  Employment  Agency  has  a  license  because  they  say  that 
without  a  license  and  without  the  right  to  charge  for  services  when  people 
were  able  to  pay,  they  were  too  much  imposed  upon  by  unworthy  people.  The 
Chicago  Typothetae  has  a  license  so  that  union  men  will  not  keep  running  to 
Mr.  Cruden's  office  to  make  complaint  about  them.  They  feel  that  they  can 
be  open  to  no  criticism  when  Mr.  Cruden,  the  State  Inspector  of  Labor 
Bureaus,  has  access  to  their  office  at  all  times. 

How  to  Get  in  Touch  With  Employers.  The  Central  Howard  Association 
and  the  Parting  of  the  Ways  Home,  which  deal  with  discharged  prisoners  and 
men  on  parole  and  on  probation,  have  a  list  of  friends  of  the  work  who  are 
employers  of  men  and  upon  whom  they  call  when  in  need.  Many  employers 
are  glad  to  get  such  men,  because  in  many  instances  the  men  give  better  service 
than  the  average  workmen  in  their  desire  to  make  good.  Only  the  members 
of  the  Employers'  Associations  are  benefited  by  their  bureaus,  unless  it  happens 
that  there  is  an  excess  of  workmen,  in  which  case  the  associations  try  to  keep 
their  men  busy.  At  the  other  twenty  bureaus  application  is  made  at  the  office, 
and  in  thirteen  out  of  the  twenty  some  aggressive  work  is  done  to  get  in  touch 
with  employers,  either  by  advertising  or  by  personal  solicitation. 

How  to  Get  in  Touch  With  Employees.  The  men  on  parole  and  on  proba- 
tion at  the  Central  Howard  Association  are  sent  by  the  court  or  by  the 
prisons.  The  three  employers'  associations  do  some  advertising  for  men.  The 
business  colleges  have  the  people  with  whom  they  deal  in  their  schools.  The 
Negro  League  and  the  Catholic  Woman's  League  also  advertise  their  work; 
the  Negro  League  in  the  South  and  also  the  North  and  the  Catholic  Woman's 
League  in  all  Europe.  With  these  exceptions  application  is  made  at  the  office 
of  the  bureaus. 

To  What  Extent  is  Business  More  Than  Local?  The  National  Founders' 
Association  sends  about  95%  of  their  men  out  of  town.  With  the  exception 
that  some  men  are  sent  to  factories  at  Moline  and  Joliet  and  some  to  farms, 
and  some  girls  to  out  of  town  work  as  maids,  most  of  the  remainder  of  the 
business  is  local. 

Investigation  of  Applicants  for  Work.  Thirteen  out  of  the  twenty-five 
bureaus  make  some  sort  of  investigation  of  the  men  who  seek  work,  and 
twelve  make  no  investigation.  In  all  cases  where  investigation  is  needed  it  is 
made.  It  is  not  needed  for  very  short  jobs  of  manual  labor. 

Slack  and  Busy  Months.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Employment  Bureau  is  very 
dull  in  midsummer  and  midwinter.  The  Business  College  Bureaus  are  busiest 
at  the  time  of  year  when  the  largest  number  of  students  are  being  graduated, 


58 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

namely  in  the  months  of  March,  April  and  May  for  stenographers.  The  type- 
writer agencies  are  busy  all  of  the  time.  What  they  lose  in  placing  people  in 
permanent  positions  in  the  summer  months,  they  gain  in  the  placing  of  tem- 
porary help  to  substitute  for  the  many  stenographers  away  on  their  vacations. 
In  the  Metal  Trades  Employment  Agency  business  is  slack  from  the  middle  of 
November  until  the  first  of  February.  In  the  National  Founders'  Association 
Bureau  business  is  said  to  be  a  feast  and  a  famine.  The  heavy  machinery 
business  has  not  picked  up  since  the  panic  of  1900.  In  the  Chicago  Typothetae 
Agency  the  slack  months  are  May,  June,  July,  October  and  November.  Of 
the  remaining  bureaus  eight  report  more  men  than  jobs  in  the  winter  time  and 
vice  versa  in  the  summer  time. 

Methods  of  Selecting  Applicants  for  Positions  Offered.  Five  of  the  bureaus 
favor  as  much  as  possible  applicants  with  no  money,  and  hence  most  in  need 
of  assistance.  Three  bureaus  give  employment  first  to  the  first  men  in  the 
office  after  the  job  is  registered,  provided  of  course  the  man  is  at  all  suited  for 
the  position.  The  other  seventeen  bureaus  use  wholly  their  own  judgment 
in  placing  the  men,  endeavoring  to  place  the  men  in  such  positions  as  they 
can  best  fill  and  where  they  will  remain  for  the  longest  time. 

Co-Operation  With  Other  Bureaus.  The  labor  bureaus  of  the  three  em- 
ployers' associations  here  listed  co-operate  with  other  agencies  in  the  same 
system  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  typewriter  agencies  and  the 
business  college  agencies  co-operate  with  each  other  for  mutual  benefit — the 
business  colleges  training  the  pupils  to  use  the  writing  machines  and  the  type- 
writer companies  helping  to  place  the  students  when  they  have  finished  their 
school  training.  Aside  from  some  other  very  slight  co-operation,  which  is 
scarcely  worthy  of  special  mention,  the  other  bureaus  operate  entirely  inde- 
pendently. 

Kinds  of  Work  Offered.  The  three  Employers'  Association  labor  bureaus 
offer  work  in  line  with  the  special  trades  represented.  The  Typothetae  handles 
printing  and  binding  help;  the  Founders'  Association  moulders,  core  makers, 
etc.,  and  the  Metal  Trades  Association  machinists,  pattern  makers,  black- 
smiths, coppersmiths,  sheet  metal  workers  and  iron  workers.  The  graduates 
from  the  business  colleges  are  fitted  to  be  bookkeepers,  stenographers,  or 
office  help.  The  typewriting  concerns  handle  typists  and  stenographers.  Six- 
teen of  the  remainder  offer  nearly  every  kind  of  work,  including  a  great  many 
odd  jobs  of  manual  labor.  Some  of  these  sixteen  mentioned  try  to  specialize 
in  some  degree  in  certain  kinds  of  work,  but  they  do  not  specialize  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  other  kinds.  They  exist  to  help  unemployed  people  and  endeavor  to 
place  applicants  as  nearly  as  possible  in  work  suited  to  their  working  ability. 

Number  of  People  Placed  in  Jobs.  The  figures  given  in  the  following 
table  include  in  many  cases  repeaters,  i.  e.,  the  same  individual  is  counted  as 
many  times  as  he  has  secured  work  through  the  bureau.  In  cases  where 
individuals  are  counted  instead  of  positions  given  this  fact  will  be  indicated. 

(1)  The  Volunteers  of  America  secured  work  for  5,437  people  in  1911. 

(2)  The  American  Salvation  Army  use  about  500  per  year  in  their  work. 
They  have  a  capacity  for  30  men  at  work  at  one  time. 

(3)  The  Chicago  Christian  Industrial  League  uses  in  its  own  work  about 
1,000  men  per  year.    They  have  a  capacity  of  50  men  at  work  at  one  time. 

(4)  The  Salvation  Army  Industrial  Home  average  10  new  men  per  week 
the  year  round. 

(5)  The  Parting  of  the  Ways  Home  has  secured  work  for  2,052  men  in 
two  and  a  half  years,  since  its  organization.     This  work  has  increased  greatly 
from  year  to  year. 

(6)  The  Central  Howard  Association  has  secured  employment  for  6,000 
in  ten  years.     It  secured  employment  for  1,456  in  1911. 

(7)  The    Metal    Trades   Association    secured   work   for   about    10,000   per 
year. 

(8)  The  Remington  Typewriter  Company  places  700  per  month. 

(9)  The  Underwood  Typewriter   Company  places  about  8,000  per  year. 

(10)  The   L.   C.   Smith  Typewriter   Company  placed   1,200  from  January 
1,  1912,  to  May  1,  1912. 

(11)  The  Chicago  Business  College  places  from  15  to  40  per  month. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  59 

(12)  The  Metropolitan  Business   College  places  about  2,000  yearly. 

(13)  The  Masonic  Employment  Agency  places  from  40  to  50  per  month. 

(14)  The    Fellowship    Association   Royal    League   places   from   50   to    75 
per  year. 

(15)  The  Negro  Fellowship  League  secured  employment  for  200  different 
people  in  six  months,  from  November  1  to  May  1,   1912. 

(16)  The  Catholic  Woman's  League  between  May  1,  1911,  and  March  15, 
1912,  placed  permanently  450. 

(17)  The  Swedish   National  Association  places  about  4,000  per  year. 

(18)  The  Norwegian  National  League  placed  1,000  in  1911. 

(19)  The  B'nai  B'rith  placed  2,575  in  1911. 

(20)  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  placed  533  women  in  the  fiscal  year  1910-1911. 

(21)  Malcolm   McDowell  assisted   12,000  men  from   December   12,   1911, 
until  March  18,  1912.    For  part  of  these  he  secured  employment,  but  not  for  all. 

Time  of  Waiting  for  Work.  The  Parting  of  the  Ways  Home  and  the 
Central  Howard  Association  always  have  on  hand  some  sort  of  employ.rnent 
for  discharged  prisoners  and  men  on  parole  and  on  probation.  Sometimes 
men  have  to  take  work  which  is  not  suited  to  them  until  better  work  can  be 
secured.  There  is  always  a  place  for  a  really  competent  stenographer,  and 
many  more  girls  could  be  used  for  housework  than  can  be  secured  at  any 
time.  In  the  spring  and  also  at  other  times  of  year  farm  labor  is  scarce. 
There  is  a  dearth  of  first  class  skilled  mechanics  of  all  sorts.  Many  present 
themselves  as  skilled  workmen  who  are  not  good  at  their  trades.  Not  enough 
manual  labor  positions  can  be  secured  for  men  making  application  for  work 
in  the  winter  time,  and  not  enough  men  can  be  found  for  such  work  in  the 
summer  time. 

Fee  Charged  Employers.  The  members  in  the  Employers'  Associations 
are  assessed  membership  dues  in  proportion  to  the  number  of'  men  they  em- 
ploy. No  charge  is  made  to  the  members  in  addition  to  this  membership  fee. 
The  Swedish  National  Association  and  the  Norwegian  National  League  charge 
$1.00  for  girls  but  nothing  for  boys.  The  Swedish  American  Employment 
Agency  charges  from  $1.00  to  $2.00  for  women,  but  nothing  for  men  and  boys. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  charges  $2.00  which  is  good  for  three  months.  The  other 
bureaus  charge  employers  no  fee. 

Fee  Charged  Employees.  The  Swedish  National  Employment  Agency 
charges  from  50  cents  to  $1.00  and  guarantees  a  position.  No  charge  for  mar- 
ried people.  Help  just  as  willingly  those  who  have  no  money.  The  Swedish 
American  Employment  Agency  charge  women  from  $1.00  to  $2.00,  men  nothing. 
The  Norwegian  National  League  charges  from  25c  to  $2.50.  People  who 
cannot  pay  are  also  helped. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  charges  50  cents  if  a  position  is  secured. 
The  other  bureaus  have  no  fee. 

Attitude  Toward  an  Efficient  State  Agency.  All  of  the  superintendents 
of  the  bureaus  who  were  asked  their  attitude  toward  an  efficient  state  agency 
expressed  themselves  as  thinking  that  it  would  be  a  very  good  thing.  A  num- 
ber of  superintendents  thought  that  a  state  agency  would  make  no  difference 
at  all  with  the  particular  kind  of  work  they  were  doing.  Several  superinten- 
dents think  that  the  one  great  objection  to  a  state  agency  is  that  the  state 
agency  will  lose  the  personal  human  touch  which  is  given  to  men  and  women 
in  the  smaller  partisan  or  sectarian  agencies.  They  claim  that  the  state  will 
not  want  to  support  with  salaries  enough  workers  in  such  an  agency  to  give 
each  case  as  careful  consideration  as  it  deserves  and  must  have  for  real  effi- 
ciency. Some  who  were  approached  upon  this  point  think  that  an  efficient 
state  agency  would  tend  to  drive  out  of  business  many  unscrupulous  agencies 
which  prey  upon  the  ignorant  and  defenseless. 

Conclusion.  The  contents  of  this  brief  report  upon  some  of  the  labor 
bureaus  operating  in  the  city  not  for  profit,  will  show  that  in  addition  to  the 
large  number  of  licensed  agencies  operating  for  profit  there  are  a  large  number 
of  unlicensed  agencies  as  disconnected  as  are  the  licensed  agencies.  The  fact 
that  in  many  of  these  separate  agencies  there  are  often  as  many  positions 
offered  as  men  seeking  positions,  but  still  unemployed  men  because  the  men 
and  the  positions  do  not  fit  together,  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  some 
sort  of  central  clearing  house  for  the  labor  market.  The  superintendent  of 


60 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

the  Salvation  Army  Industrial  Home  notes  that  the  organization  with  which 
he  is  connected  and  the  American  Salvation  Army  and  the  Volunteers  of 
America  and  the  Chicago  Christian  Industrial  League  are  all  doing  what  is  in 
some  respects  the  very  same  work.  This  work  he  thinks  should  be  under  spme 
central  supervision,  instead  of  being  in  the  hands  of  several  competing  insti- 
tutions. This  argues  for  some  sort  of  central  control  for  each  kind  of  charita- 
ble employment  work,  so  that  all  effort  may  produce  a  maximum  result. 

3.    Immigration. 
REPORT  TO  THE  COMMISSION  ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

by  its 
Committee  on  Immigration. 

To  the  Commission  on  Unemployment: 

Your  Committee  on  Immigration  reports  as  follows: 

I.  Your    committee    invited    the    participation    and    co-operation    of    the 
following  persons  and  associations: 

Miss  Grace  Abbott 

Mr.  John    Fitzpatrick 

Mr.  James  Mullenbach 

Mr.  Paul  Wander 

Miss    Mary   McDowell 

Mrs.   Raymond  Robins 

Mr.  Victor   Olander 

Mr.  E.  H.  Sutherland 

Gads   Hill  Settlement,  represented  by  Mrs.   Martin 

Conference    of   Jewish    Women's    Organizations,    represented    by    Miss   Julia 

Felsenthal 

Immigrants'   Protective   League,  represented  by   Miss  S.   P.   Breckenridge 
Chicago   Federation  of   Labor,   represented   by   Oscar   F.   Nelson 
Women's  Trade  Union  League,  represented  by  Miss  Emma  Steghagen 
Juvenile  Protective  League,  represented  by  Mr.  Howard  Moore 
Maxwell    Street    Settlement,    represented    by    Miss    Ernestine    Heller 
Henry   Booth   House,  represented  by   Mr.  T.  W.   Allinson 
University  of  Chicago   Settlement,  represented   by  Mr.   Adolph   Petratis  and 

Mr.  E.  L.  Talbert 

Neighborhood    House,    represented    by    Mrs.    Harriet    M.    Vandervaart 
Chicago  Commons,  represented  by  Mr.  R.  D.  Hunter  and  Mr.  Walter  Schatz 
Young  Men's   Christian  Association    (Immigration   Department),   represented 

by  Mr.  Abraham  Bowers. 
B'nai  B'rith  Free  Employment  Agency,  represented  by  Mr.  T.  Rubevitz  and 

Mr.  O.  G.  Finkelstein. 

All  of  the  above  named  persons  were  added  to  your  committee  as  un- 
official members  and  participated  in  its  deliberations. 

II.  Your     committee,     thus     enlarged     for     consultative     and       working 
purposes,   organized   the   following   sub-committees: 

Migratory  Labor — 

Mr.    James  Mullenbach 

Miss   Grace  Abbott 

Mr.   Victor  Olander. 

Over-employment  and   Under-employment — 

Mr.  E.  L.  Talbert 

Miss  Mary  McDowell 

Mr.  Adolph  Petratis. 
Unemployment  Among  Foreign  Women — 

Mrs.  Raymond  Robins 

Miss  Emma  Steghagen. 


61 


Charities — 

Mr.  Thomas  W.  Allinson. 

Population   and   Immigration   Statistics — 
Miss   Grace  Abbott 
Miss  S.   P.   Breckenridge 
Mr.  Louis  F.  Post. 

III.  Reports    have    been    submitted    by    those    sub-committees    to    your 
committee  which  herewith  transmits  the  same  to  the  Commission.     They  are 
attached  as  a  part  of  this  report. 

IV.  Your   committee   calls  attention   to   the   difficulties,  as   disclosed   by 
these    sub-committee    reports,    of    acquiring    information    bearing    upon    the 
subject  matter  of  its  inquiry,  and  the  impossibility  of  securing  complete  and 
trustworthy  reports,  without  funds  for  employing  experts  to  devote  their  time 
to  the  inquiry. 

V.  Your  committee  recommends: 

1 — The  establishment  of  a  Chicago  branch  of  the  Bureau  of  Infor- 
mation of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  as  a  means  of 
facilitating  the  intelligent  distribution  of  immigrants. 

2 — The  organization  of  an  effective  State  employment  agency 
which  shall  co-operate  with  other  State  and  national  agencies  and  shall 
be  especially  equipped  with  ^facilities,  through  interpreters  and  other- 
wise, for  dealing  with  immigrants.  Though  the  primary  purpose  of 
these  agencies  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  committee,  they  would 
have  a  secondary  or  incidental  function  of  great  importance  to  an  in- 
telligent understanding  of  the  subject  matter  which  does  come  within 
this  committee's  scope.  A  centralized  official  employment  agency  at 
Chicago,  well  equipped  not  only  for  finding  jobs  for  the  unemployed  but 
also  for  recording  and  reporting  the  facts  which  that  function  would 
necessitate  its  ascertaining,  would  be  especially  useful. 

3 — Regular  inspection  and  regulation  by  the  Federal  Government  of 
the  sanitary  conditions,  i.  e.,  location,  housing  and  food  in  labor  camps 
of  railroads  doing  an  interstate  business.  State  inspection  and  regula- 
tion of  those  doing  an  intra-state  business. 

4— More  opportunities  for  industrial  training  for  immigrant  men 
and  women. 

5 — Better  regulation,  and  better  enforcement  of  existing  regulations, 
of  private  lodging  houses. 

6 — More  efficient  equipment  and  larger  quarters  for  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House. 

7 — The  establishment  of  a  city  or  State  farm  to  which  the  so-called 
"unemployables"  may  be  sent  for  scientific  medical  and  social  treatment. 

8 — A  scientific  efficiency  study  of  seasonal  trades  with  a  view  to 
determining  whether  continuous  employment  of  a  smaller  force 
throughout  the  year  is  not  practicable. 

9 — The  establishment  of  a  minimum  wage  for  women  workers. 

10 — Appointment  of  a  State  immigration  commission  to  inquire  into 
the  welfare,  opportunities  for  employment,  and  conditions  of  labor,  of 
immigrants  and  migratory  laborers. 

VI.  In  the  getting  of  material  and  the  preparation  of  this  report  your 
committee  has  had  the  co-operation  of  the  voluntary  members  associated  with 
it   as   stated   above,   and   it  wishes   to    record    its   grateful   acknowledgments 
therefor  and  particularly  for  the  expert  service  rendered  it  by  the  voluntary 
sub-committees.  LOUIS  F.  POST,  Chairman. 

REPORTS  OF  THE  SUB-COMMITTEES  ON  MIGRATORY  LABOR. 

I.     The  Municipal  Lodging  House By  James   Mullenbach 

II.     "Railroad   Gangs" By   Grace   Abbott 

III.     Casual    Laborers By    Victor    Olander 


62 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

I.     THE  MUNICIPAL  LODGING  HOUSE. 
By  James  Mullenbach. 

The  following  statement  is  based,  first,  on  the  information  furnished  by 
the  Municipal  Lodging  House  consisting  of  certain  tabulated  statistics  here- 
with enclosed;  and  in  the  second  place,  on  the  observation  and  experience  of 
the  writer  as  superintendent  of  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  for  five  years. 

At  the  outset  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  explain  that  the  Municipal  Lodging 
House,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  a  lodging  house  maintained  by  the  City  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  shelter  and  care  for  homeless,  unemployed  and 
destitute  men  and  boys  stranded  in  Chicago.  It  was  opened  December  21, 
1901,  by  Mayor  Carter  H.  Harrison  in  co-operation  with  the  City  Homes 
Association  in  order  to  provide  a  humane  and  effective  substitute  for  the  police 
station  lodging  of  the  unemployed.  A  year  later  the  City  assumed  full  re- 
sponsibility, and  the  shelter  was  transferred  to  its  present  quarters,  110  North 
Union  Street,  in  a  building  owned  by  the  City. 

In  using  the  information  from  the  Municipal  Lodging  House,  it  is 
assumed  that  the  lodgers  fairly  represent  the  unemployed  and  those  who 
follow  migratory  occupations;  that  the  population  of  the  Municipal  Lodging 
House  becomes,  as  it  were,  a  cross  section  out  of  the  great  group  of  laborers 
who  are  engaged  in  seasonal  and  casual  employment,  involving  migration 
about  the  country  and  encountering  periods  of  unemployment,  or  at  least 
underemployment. 

In  dealing  with  the  statistics  account  should  be  taken  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  of  two  classes  in  Table  1  and  Table  2.  In  Table  1  the  statistics  from 
December  21,  1901,  to  close  of  1909  are  based  on  the  number  of  lodgings  given 
and  not  on  the  number  of  individual  men.  In  Table  2  the  statistics,  for  1910 
to  April  30th,  1912,  are  based  on  the  number  of  individual  men  to  whom  lodg- 
ings were  given.  Table  No.  2  is,  therefore,  more  accurate  than  Table  No.  1. 
It  should  be  noticed,  however,  that  the  percentages  in  the  various  items  of 
classification  do  not  greatly  differ,  though  there  are  some  modifications. 

For  example,  in  Table  No.  1  we  find  that  251,438  lodgings  (we  disregard 
the  figures  [11,097]  for  1902  as  no  account  was  kept  of  the  "First  Nighters") 
were  given  to  45,951  different  men.  This  was  an  average  of  5.5  lodgings  per 
man.  In  Table  No.  2,  167,716  lodgings  were  given  to  30,888  different  men, 
or  an  average  of  5.4  lodgings  per  man.  While  the  difference  in  some  of  the 
other  items  is  not  so  slight.  Table  No.  2  checks  up  on  Table  No.  1  and  on  the 
whole  confirms  it. 

Besides  these  two  general  tables  there  are  also  some  special  statistics 
tabulated  relating  to — 

Table  3 — Number  of  Lodgings    in    Police  Stations    as  compared    with 
Number  in  Municipal  Lodging  House. 

Table  4 — Duration  of  Lodgers  in  the  City. 

Table  5 — Special  record  of  2,608  Lodgers. 

Table  6 — Special  record  of  1,317  Lodgers,  and  how  they  came  into  the 
City. 

Table  7 — The   Physical   Condition   of   13,053   Lodgers. 

Table  8 — Civil  Status;  number  married  and  single. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  at  close  of  December, 
1901,  to  April  30th,  1912,  430,201  lodgings  had  been  given.  While  this  is  an 
astounding  number  of  lodgings  it  is  only  about  one-fourth  the  number  given 
in  the  police  stations  of  Chicago  for  an  equal  period  of  years.  From  1892 
to  1901 — ten  years — the  total  number  of  lodgings  given  in  the  police  stations 
was  1,275,463.  These  were  the  ten  years  preceding  the  opening  of  the  Munici- 
pal Lodging  House.  During  the  first  ten  years  of  its  operation,  1902  to  1911, 
inclusive,  the  Lodging  House  gave  370,655  lodgings.  (See  Table  3.)  Under 
the  Municipal  Lodging  House  system  the  City  was  saved  the  expense  and 
risk  of  904,808  police  station  lodgings.  These  statistics  for  the  ten-year  period 
are  reasonably  fair.  They  cover  two  panics  and  business  depressions,  the 
first  decade  that  of  1894  and  succeeding  years,  and  the  second  decade  *hat 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT fi3 

of  1907-1908.  While  the  later  labor  depression  was  not  as  severe  or  prolonged 
as  the  earlier,  it  was  severe  enough  for  purposes  of  comparison,  and  none  of 
us  want  a  repetition  for  the  purpose  of  equalizing  the  terms  of  the  comparison. 

The  total  number  of  individual  men  ("First  Nighters")  given  lodging  for 
the  period  from  January  1st,  1903,  to  April  30th,  1912,  was  76,839.  The  year 
1902  is  not  included  as  information  on  this  point  was  not  taken  at  that  time. 

Two  questions  arise: 

1.  How  many  of  these  men  were  residents  of  Chicago,  and  how  many 
came   from  other  communities? 

2.  How  many  of  them  follow  migratory  labor? 

In  regard  to  the  first  question  Table  No.  4  gives  duration  of  time  in  the 
City  for  "lodgings  given"  in  1903-'04-'05-'06.  Of  the  52,436  lodgings  given, 
16,948  or  33  per  cent  were  given  to  men  who  had  been  five  days  or  less  in  the 
City;  13,259  or  25  per  cent  to  men  who  had  been  from  six  days  to  one  month 
in  Chicago;  8,494  or  16  per  cent  to  men  who  had  been  from  one  month  to 
six  months;  2,566  or  5  per  cent  to  men  who  had  been  from  six  months  to  one 
year,  and  11..169  or  21  per  cent  to  men  who  had  been  in  Chicago  one  year 
or  over.  That  is  to  say,  58  per  cent  of  the  lodgers  had  been  in  the  City  less 
than  a  month.  Only  21  per  cent  had  been  here  long  enough  to  establish  a 
legal  residence.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  figures  do  not  tell  the  whole  truth, 
as  many  of  the  men  who  stated  they  had  been  only  five  days  in  the  City, 
were  accustomed  to  make  Chicago  their  headquarters  from  which  they  were 
shipped  out  on  the  various  jobs.  It  indicates,  however,  the  remarkable 
mobility  of  the  group. 

In  Table  No.  5  there  are  some  statistics  showing  the  duration  of  time  in 
the  City  for  2,608  individual  men.  These  statistics  were  gathered  from  May 
1st  to  September  30th,  the  summer  of  1908.  In  the  case  of  these  2,608  men 
1,695  or  65  per  cent  were  less  than  five  days  in  the  City;  256  or  10  per  cent 
less  than  one  month;  261  or  10  per  cent  from  one  month  to  one  year;  and  396 
or  15  per  cent  had  been  in  Chicago  one  year  or  over.  These  figures,  there- 
fore, show  an  even  larger  percentage  of  the  out-of-town  laborer. 

In  this  connection  it  is  of  interest  to  examine  Table  No.  5  showing  how 
1,317  of  these  2,608  applicants  arrived  in  Chicago.  Six  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  or  51  per  cent  admitted  they  "beat  it"  on  the  railroads  into  the  City; 
463  or  35  per  cent  claimed  they  had  paid  their  fare;  77  or  6  per  cent  walked. 
Even  these,  however,  may  have  meant  that  they  walked  from  Grand  Crossing, 
or  Mayfair,  or  some  other  railroad  center  where  they  had  to  leave  the  freight 
train.  Eighty-six  or  6  per  cent  were  "passed  in"  by  employers.  Seventeen  or 
1  per  cent  came  by  boat. 

Meager  as  these  statistics  are  they  undoubtedly  indicate  the  way  in  which 
the  migratory  laborer  and  the  unemployed  man  gets  about  the  country.  The 
"tramp"  as  a  pedestrian  is  no  longer  known.  Only  the  mentally  defective 
vagrant,  or  the  foreigner,  ignorant  of  the  advantages  of  our  country,  now 
tramps  his  way.  The  others  travel  in  a  "side  door  Pullman"  or  on  the  blind 
baggage,  when  they  have  not  th"  fare  to  ride  inside.  In  those  cases  where 
the  men  remain  until  the  job  is  finished,  or  for  a  stated  period,  usually  the 
season,  the  employer  will  provide  fare  back  to  the  starting  point. 

In  regard  to  the  second  question:  how  many  of  the  lodgers  belong  to  the 
migratory  labor  group,  we  have  no  statistics  at  hand.  The  writer  is  prepared 
to  state  that  at  least  60  per  cent  of  the  lodgers  follow  what  is  known  as 
seasonal  employment  requiring  migration  about  the  country. 

Unless  one  has  had  opportunity  to  observe  the  conditions,  it  is  difficult 
to  appreciate  the  great  significance  of  seasonal  employment  both  in  its  extent 
and  variety,  and  its  effect  upon  the  worker  and  the  community. 

In  the  household  order  of  industry,  there  were  practically  only  two 
nomadic  callings,  that  of  the  soldier  and  that  of  the  sailor.  At  the  present 
time  we  have  a  great  number  of  occupations  that  involve  the  movement  of 
the  workers  to  the  locations  and  into  the  employment  that  the  season  de- 
mands or  permits.  All  construction  work  on  railroads  and  factory  plants, 
wheaf  harvesting,  logging,  ice  cutting,  river  and  dock  work,  fruit  picking,  hop 
picking,  oyster  dredging,  are  a  few  of  these  seasonal  occupations. 


64 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Construction  work,  railroad  and  otherwise,  opens  in  the  spring  as  soon 
as  the  risk  of  frost  is  gone.  The  men  are  shipped  out  usually  through  labor 
agents  to  the  job  which  may  be  on  \he  outskirts  of  Chicago  or  on  the  outskirts 
of  Cheyenne.  Construction  work  will  continue  all  summer  until  cold  weather 
in  the  fall.  However,  toward  the  end  of  June  the  wheat  harvest  in  Oklahoma 
and  Kansas  begins  and  many  of  the  men  in  the  construction  work  leave  for 
the  harvest  avid  continue  with  it  all  the  way  up  through  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
the  Dakotas  and  even  into  Canada.  About  October  they  begin  to  return, 
going  to  Duluth,  Minneapolis  and  other  cities  to  ship  out  into  lumber  woods, 
or  continuing  farther  south  to  Milwaukt-e,  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  other  cities 
east  and  south. 

In  Chicago  these  laborers  do  odd  jobs  and  pick  up  a  precarious  livelihood 
until  the  ice  camps  open.  If  it  is  a  mild  season  the  ice  cutting  may  be  much 
delayed  and  shortened.  In  most  cases  it  does  not  last  over  five  or  six  weeks. 
The  sag  between  the  harvest,  or  the  closing  of  construction  work,  and  the 
opening  of  the  ice  cutting  is  the  longest  and  most  discouraging  of  the  year. 

Coming  now  to  the  general  tables  showing  more  particularly  the  facts 
about  these  unemployed  and  migratory  workers,  we  find  that  so  far  as  nativity 
is  concerned,  53.5  per  cent  are  American  born  and  46.5  per  cent  are  foreign 
born. — Table  No.  2.  In  Table  No.  1  the  proportions  are  reversed.  The 
American  born  are  45  per  cent  and  the  foreign  born  55  per  cent.  The  in- 
crease in  the  proportion  of  foreign  born  is  found  to  be  in  the  years  1907- 
1908-1909,  the  years  of  the  panic  and  depression.  During  our  industria'i 
storm  the  American  laborer,  especially  the  boys  and  younger  men,  goes 
home  to  his  folks,  while  the  foreigner,  after  a  period  of  unemployment  has 
exhausted  his  savings  and  his  credit  with  the  boarding  boss  and  is  forced  upon 
public  relief.  The  panic  of  1907-1908  brought  the  Slavs  to  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House  in  unprecedented  numbers.  The  following  spring  many  of 
them  went  into  construction  work  and  have  remained  in  migratory  callings 
since  that  time  instead  of  finding  their  way  back  to  factory  employment. 

As  to  ages  of  38,256  lodgers— 1910  to  1912: 

1,109  or  3  per  cent  were  over  60  years  of  age. 
15,211   or  40  per  cent  were  between  20-30  years  of  age. 
10,450  or  27  per  cent  were  between  30-40  years  of  age. 

6,411   or   17  per  cent  were  between  40-50  years   of  age. 

3,174  or     8  per  cent  were  between  50-60  years  of  age. 

1,901  or  5  per  cent  were  under  20  years  of  age. 

These  figures  on  ages  indicate  that  44  per  cent  or  nearly  one-half  of  the 
lodgers  are  under  30  years  of  age.  The  significance  of  this  movement  of 
young  life  in  its  adventurous  years  is  not  sufficiently  understood.  Many  factors 
enter  into  it.  It  is  bound  up  with  the  most  significant  event  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  namely  the  closing  of  the  western  frontier.  So  long  as  the  country 
possessed  a  frontier,  there  was  a  national  outlet  for  the  surplus  energy  of  the 
try  its  forces  with  the  world  of  men  or  nature,  to  seek  its  fortune  under  new 
people.  There  was  always  opportui. ity  for  the  adventurous  spirit,  eager  to 
conditions,  unhampered  by  the  restraint  and  convention  of  the  settled  com- 
munity. For  twenty  centuries  the  history  of  civilization  has  been  the  history 
of  the  Western  frontier,  but  within  our  own  day  the  frontier  has  passed  and 
our  civilization  has  suddenly  awakened  to  the  fact  that  it  must  be  built  on  its 
own  resources,  but  that  those  resources  are  not  inexhaustible.  Meanwhile, 
the  youth  of  the  country,  the  heirs  of  this  age-long  movement,  with  the  urge 
of  it  still  in  their  blood,  will  not  live  on  quietly  in  a  prairie  hamlet.  They, 
too,  want  to  get  out  and  see  the  world  and  take  their  chances  as  their  fathers 
did. 

Apart  from  the  search  for  employment  there  is  this  other  factor  of  youth- 
ful restlessness,  the  Wanderlust,  lying  deep  in  our  common  life  and  finding 
expression  in  these  nomadic  expeditions  of  the  country  and  city  youth  in  search 
of  excitement  and  incidentally  for  employment.  Instead,  however,  of  making 
for  the  frontier  they  now  go  to  the  city  as'  the  place  of  opportunity.  The 
frontier  is  no  longer  in  the  front — it  is  in  the  rear.  When  once  the  signifi- 


.  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT     65 

cance  of  the  closing  of  the  frontier  is  appreciated  the  proportion  of  young 
men  who  follow  these  nomadic  callings  will  be  properly  appreciated. 

Taking  up  the  next  classification,  we  find  that  the  figures  show  that  of 
38,266  lodgers  11,543  or  40  per  cent  were  skilled,  while  26,723  or  60  per  cent 
were  unskilled.  These  figures  need  qualification.  In  the  11,543  are  included 
not  only  the  craftsman  who  is  still  following  his  trade,  the  temporarily  out 
of  work,  but  also  the  craftsman  who  because  of  changes  in  industry  has  taken 
up  unskilled  work  and  drifted  into  the  migratory  group.  Some  of  these 
changes  tending  to  throw  skilled  mechanics  among  the  unskilled  workers  are 
well  known;  the  existence  of  the  rush  and  dull  seasons,  the  introduction  and 
development  of  machine  and  automatic  processes  in  manufacturing,  and  the 
consolidation  of  industries.  When  a  trade  is  disintegrated,  or  men  are  thrown 
out  of  work  through  the  consolidation  of  business,  craftsmen  are  very  apt 
to  become  permanently  members  of  the  unskilled  group.  Disintegration  has 
in  late  years  taken  place  among  the  tanners  and  machinists  and  is  in  process 
among  the  glass  blowers.  When  once  a  skilled  workman  has  gone  over  into 
the  unskilled  group  it  is  very  difficult  for  him  to  get  back,  especially  where 
he  is  unmarried  and  onee  loses  footing  in  his  own  community. 

On  the  next  item  we  find  that  during  the  last  three  years  4,621  men  went 
out  from  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  to  paid  employment.  This  is  about 
12  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  individual  men  who  stopped  at  the  lodging 
house.  While  this  statement  is  encouraging  it  needs  some  explanation.  In 
the  first  place  it  was  not  possible  to  keep  an  adequate  check  on  the  men 
who  went  put  to  the  job  so  that  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  management 
knew  certainly  that  the  men  had  gotten  employment.  In  the  next  place,  most 
of  the  opportunities  for  employment  that  come  to  the  Municipal  Lodging 
House  are  temporary  in  their  nature.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  has  been  found 
by  experience  that  the  migratory  laborer,  while  he  may  accept,  will  not  per- 
manently continue  in  steady  work  at  one  place.  One  would  suppose  that 
when  offered  permanent  employment  he  would  be  glad  to  get  it  and  stick.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  migratory  laborer  is  'a  victim  of  his  economic  train- 
ing. He  has  been  trained  to  work  a  few  weeks  or  months  on  the  railroad 
here  and  there,  a  few  other  weeks  in  the  harvest  field,  then  to  do  odd  jobs 
around  town  until  he  gets  into  the  ice  camp  for  a  few  more  weeks.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  this  training  in  casual  and  unsteady  employment  has  unfitted 
him  for  regular  and  permanent  work.  He  is  as  restless  in  permanent  occupa- 
tion as  the  steady  mechanic  would  be  in  becoming  accustomed  to  the  casual 
employment  of  a  migratory  laborer. 

In  respect  of  physical  capacity  of  lodgers,  a  table  is  submitted  showing 
the  record  of  physical  examinations  of  13,053  men.  This  report  shows  that 
about  85  per  cent  of  the  men  were  found  to  be  able-bodied;  that  about  7  per 
cent  were  physicaHy  deficient;  that  2  per  cent  were  sick  so  as  to  need  hospital 
or  dispensary  treatment,  and  that  about  5  per  cent  were  crippled.  Nearly  14 
per  cent  had  affections  of  the  skin  and  scalp.  This  is  a  significant  item  as  it 
indicates  the  unsanitary  condition  under  which  these  men  live  both  in  the 
private  lodging  houses  of  the  city  and  the  labor  camps.  Where  men  are 
lodged  promiscuously  as  they  are  in  the  common  lodging  houses  and  in  labor 
camps  and  colonies,  it  is  only  by  the  greatest  effort  that  the  lodging  house 
or  camp  can  be  kept  free  of  vermin. 

Another  significant  item  is  that  of  venereal  diseases,  whJth  shows  that 
about  5  per  cent  of  the  men  had  recognizable  infection.  In  a  separate  table 
statistics  are  given  for  four  years  showing  the  proportion  of  married  and 
single  men  to  whom  lodgings  were  given.  In  that  statement  it  appears  that 
90  per  cent  of  the  men  are  single  and  about  10  per  cent  married.  These 
statistics  are  also  borne  out  by  the  special  tables  giving  the  records  of  2,608 
men  where  the  same  proportions  hold.  It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon 
the  obvious  consequences  to  a  group  of  individuals  and  to  the  community 
where  great  numbers  of  men  are  unmarried.  In  a  certain  way  this  is  the 
most  significant  fact  attaching  to  this  entire  group  of  men,  namely:  that  they 
are  homeless;  that  is,  have  no  domestic  relation  of  responsibility.  The  con- 
ditions of  their  employment,  its  migratory  and  irregular  character,  put  a 
premium  upon  homelessness;  but  it  also  brings  about  serious  consequences 


66 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

for  the  individual  and  the  community.  It  should  be  understood  that  the 
great  majority  of  these  men  are  separate  from  all  the  responsible  and  re- 
fining influences  of  the  ordinary  societarian  relations.  They  never  meet 
women  in  any  wholesome  way.  They  seldom  sit  at  a  table  in  a  private 
home.  They  usually  eat  at  the  cheap  restaurant  or  the  free  lunch  counter 
in  saloons.  Undoubtedly  the  earnings  of  this  company  of  men  is  one  of  the 
economic  sources  of  the  red  light  region  of  every  large  city. 

Likewise,  men  with  circulatory  disabilities,  numbering  nearly  13  per  cent, 
which  indicates  a  very  large  proportion  of  those  who  have  arterio  sclerosis. 

The  figures  on  tuberculosis,  being  .8  per  cent  of  the  lodgers,  was  de- 
termined by  a  stethoscopic  and  not  microscopic  examination. 

For  the  amelioration  of  the  present  condition  the  following  suggestions 
are  offered: 

First:  The  quarters  at  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  should  be  en- 
larged and  the  equipment  made  more  efficient.  Enough  help  should  be  sup- 
plied to  adequately  deal  with  the  situation.  There  should  be  medical  ex- 
amination of  every  lodger.  The  food  should  be  sufficient  to  enable  a  man 
to  do  a  day's  work  upon  it.  It  should  go  beyond  the  stage  of  coffee  and 
bread  and  come  nearer  what  it  was  during  the  winter  of  1907  and  1908. 

Second:  State  free  employment  agencies  should  be  reorganized  in  such 
a  way  as  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  the  unemployed  effectively.  Those 
agencies  ought  to  be  strengthened  and  expanded.  If,  as  has  been  suggested 
already  by  the  Commission,  they  should  be  placed  under  a  central  bureau, 
a  state  industrial  commission  similar  to  the  one  in  Wisconsin,  it  would  un- 
doubtedly be  an  improvement  upon  the  present  arrangement.  Between  the 
Municipal  Lodging  House  and  an  efficient  state  free  employment  office  there 
ought  to  be  thorough  co-operation. 

Third:  There  should  be  state  inspection  of  all  labor  camps  and  colonies. 
If  it  should  be  found  that  state  inspection  of  labor  camps  is  not  constitutional 
then  it  should  be  done  by  the  Federal  Government  in  those  cases  where 
the  employment  is  of  interstate  ^character.  This  inspection  should  regulate 
the  location  of  the  camp,  sleeping  space,  sanitary  arrangements  and  condition 
of  food. 

Fourth:  There  should  be  more  adequate  legislation  and  more  effective 
enforcement  of  regulations  for  the  control  of  the  private  lodging  house  than* 
is  now  in  practice.  The  conditions  under  which  men  sleep  today  in  the  private 
lodging  houses  of  Chicago  are  a  direct  inducement  to  drunkenness.  No 
one  may  sleep  in  the  vermin  infested,  badly  ventilated,  fetid  air  of  a  cheap 
lodging  house  without  feeling  the  necessity  of  throwing  a  couple  of  bracers 
under  his  belt  in  the  morning  to  feel  right  for  the  day's  work. 

Fifth:  There  should  be  federal  control  of  all  labor  agencies  furnishing 
interstate  labor.  At  present  men  are  shipped  out  to  jobs  where  there  is  no 
work.  If  it  lies  outside  of  the  state  great  difficulty  will  be  found  to  prove 
the  case,  as  an  Illinois  judge  cannot  subpoena  witnesses  outside  of  Illinois, 
and  the  case  usually  goes  by  default. 

While  state  regulation  of  private  employment  agencies  needs  to  be 
carried  on  vigorously,  the  real  cure  lies  in  the  positive  work  that  will  be 
done  by  the  state  agency. 

The  most  effective  measure  for  remedying  the  condition  under  which 
this  group  lives  and  works  would  be  the  organization  of  the  workers.  There 
are  three  obstacles  that  stand  in  the  way  of  creating  a  common  conscious- 
ness among  migratory  laborers.  In  the  first  place,  the  haphazard,  irregular, 
nomadic  character  of  the  employment  does  not  permit  of  the  formation 
of  acquaintanceship,  confidence  and  mutual  trust  necessary  to  such  an  organi- 
zation. In  the  second  place,  the  group  is  constantly  under  the  pressure 
of  old-world  immigration;  and,  finally,  the  migratory  labor  group  is  also  at 
a  distinct  disadvantage  in  that  it  is  the  resort  of  the  displaced  laborers,  both- 
skilled  and  unskilled,  who  followed  more  permanent  occupations. 

In  the  face  of  these  three  obstacles  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  workers 
may  be  organized  for  their  own  defense  and  betterment.  Apparently,  they 
can  only  be  saved  from  exploitation  by  the  active  intercession  of  other  por- 
tions of  the  community. 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


67 


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REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


TABLE   3. 


Number    of    Lodgings 
Stations  During  Ten 
the  Opening  of  the 
ing  House. 

Given    in    Police 
Years  Preceding 
Municipal  Lodg- 

Number     of 
Municipal 
Past  Ten 

Lodgings     Given     in     the 
Lodging  House  During  the 
Years. 

1  

1892            77,085 
1893            88,138 
,  1894           133,006 
1895           130.4X1 
1896           176,980 
1897           204,964 
1898           139,579 
1899           113,942 
1900           118,697 
1901             92,591 

1.  . 

1902 

11,097 
5,642 
18,872 
14,235 
13,503 
23,642 
105,564 
69,980 
36,710 
71,410 

2          

2  

1903 

3    

3  

1904 

j 

4  

1905 

5                   

5  

1906 

6                        

6  

1907 

7                    

7  

1908 

8      

8  

1909 

9          

9.  .  . 

1910 

10                        

10  

1911 

Total             

Total  .  .  . 

1,275,463 

370  655 

TABLE   4. 
DURATION  IN  THE   CITY. 


5  days  and  less  in  city  

1903 
....   2  362 

1904 
5  048 

1905 
4  106 

1906 
5  432 

....   1  302 

5  377 

3  848 

2  732 

6  months  and  over  1  month.  .  .  . 

....    843 

3.376 

2  712 

1  563 

1  year  and  over  6  months  

....    374 

850 

611 

731 

All  over  1  year  

....    945 

4,221 

2,958 

3,045 

. 

5,826 
TABLE 

18,872 
5. 

14,235 

13,503 

Total 

16,948  or  33% 

13,259  or  25% 
8,494  or  16% 
2,566  or  5% 

11,169  or  21% 


Soi 


52,436 


Statistics  of  2.608  Individual  Applicants  at  the  Chicago  Municipal  Lodging; 
House,  May  1  to  September  30,  1908. 


Single  

CIVIL  STATUS. 
2430  —  90%     nearly 

DURATION    IN    THE 
Less  than   5  days  

CITY. 

1,695—65% 
256  —  10% 
261      10% 

Married  .... 

178  —  10% 

5    days  —  1    month  

American    . 
British     .  .  . 

2,608 
NATIONALITY. 
1,309  —  50% 

1   year  and   over  

396  —  15% 

OCCUPATION. 
Skilled 

2,608 

1,510—58% 
1,098—42% 

164  —  6% 

Irish     

163—  6% 

German     363  —  14% 

Unskilled  

Scandinavian     110  —  4% 
Slavic     344  —  13% 

Crippled  .       ... 

2,608 
43  or  1.5% 

Other     

155  —  6% 

Leas  than  1 

16-20  years 
20-30    years 
30-40   years 
40-50   years 
50-60   years 
60    and    ove 

2,608 
year  in  U.  S.  .        195—7.5% 

AGE. 
256  —  9% 

1  200     50% 

594     22% 

•  325     12% 

144        5% 

r  89        3% 

2,608 

TABLE    6. 

TRANSPORTATION. 
How  1317  Applicants  Arrived  In   Chicago. 

5Io  or  £1%   admltted  they  "beat  it"  on  the  railroads. 

463  or  35%   claimed  they  had  paid  their  fare 

77  or     6%  walked. 

86  or     6%   were   "passed  in"   by  employers 

17  or     1%  arrived  by  boat. 

1,317 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 69 

TABLE    7. 

Report   on   Physical   Condition   of   13,O53   Lodger*. 
October   4,   19O4,    to    December   31,   1906. 

General  Physical  Condition — 

Able-bodied    11,369  84.8    % 

Physically    deficient    809  7.24% 

Mentally    deficient    29  .20% 

Sick  . 234  2.17% 

Crippled 612  5.38% 

Total     .                                                    13,053 

Eyes 216  1.79% 

Ears 181  1.75% 

Skin   and    Scalp    1,866  13.70% 

Venereal — 

Chancre 69  .53% 

Gonorrhoea 1-90% 

Syphilis 2.69% 

Hernia.                                     483  4.55% 

Circulatory 1,521  12.81% 

Respiratory 151  2-432' 

Tuberculosis 109  .82% 

Fevers   6  .05% 

TABLE   8. 
CIVIL  STATUS. 

1903  1904  1905  1906 

Married   839  1,866  1,037  579 

Single 4,987  17,006  13,198  12,924 

II.    "RAILROAD  GANGS." 
By  Grace  Abbott. 

Of  the  unskilled  men  who  are  unemployed  during  the  winter  those  who 
work  on  the  railroads  of  the  country — grading  the  road  bed,  laying  ties  and 
rails,  ballasting  with  gravel  and  crushed  stone,  ditching  and  doing  general 
track  work — constitute  the  largest  single  element.  Questions  prepared  by 
the  Committee  were  therefore  formulated  and  submitted  to  the  officers  of 
some  of  the  principal  railroads  which  enter  Chicago.  Their  replies  were 
supplemented  by  the  report  of  Mr.  Paul  Wander,  a  research  student  at 
the  University  of  Chicago,  who  visited  and  reported  on  some  of  the  largest 
camps  between  Chicago  and  Wyoming,  and  by  the  records  of  the  Immi- 
grants' Protective  League. 

The  railroads  estimated  that  about  one-third  of  the  men  employed  for 
this  work  are  "hoboes" — the  Irish,  English  and  American  survivals  of  the 
time  when  all  of  this  work  was  done  by  English  speaking  immigrants  or 
native  Americans.  The  others  are  "foreigners" — Italians,  Poles,  Greeks, 
Bulgarians,  Croatians,  Russians  and  others  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe. 
The  "hoboes"  are  not  only  old  hands  at  this  work,  but  they  are  familiar 
with  the  ugliest  aspects  of  American  life  in  every  city  in  the  country.  Most 
of  the  "foreigners,"  on  the  other  hand,  are  having  their  first  experience  in 
industrial  life  in  America,  are  ignorant  of  English,  of  the  extent  of  the 
country,  and  of  how  a  man  may  "beat  his  way"  from  place  to  place  and 
avoid  arrest. 

Construction  work  lasts  from  six  to  eight  months,  beginning  as  soon  as  the 
weather  permits,  in  March  or  April,  and  lasting  until  the  work  is  finished 
or  until  the  cold  weather  brings  it  to  a  close,  in  November  or  December. 

The  number  of  men  required  for  this  work  is  difficult  to  determine. 
Eight  railroads,  in  answer  to  this  question,  replied  that  they  tried  to  keep 
11,414  men  at  work  during  the  season.  The  number  of  men  shipped  is,  how- 
ever, very  much  greater.  One  of  the  railroads,  whose  gangs  required  4,593 
men,  estimates  that  twelve  or  fifteen  times  that  number  had  to  be  sent  out; 
another  railroad  reports  twenty  men  sent  out  for  every  job;  another  10;  one 
writes  that  it  is  impossible  to  say,  because  "men  were  shipped  out  constantly 


70 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

from  Chicago."  The  total  number  of  shipments  must  therefore  reach  several 
hundred  thousand — how  many  men  are  involved  the  railroad  records  do  not 
show.  About  75  per  cent  of  the  number,  whatever  it  is,  are  secured  from 
the  Chicago  labor  market  and  return  to  Chicago  for  the  winter.  The. other 
25  per  cent  come  from  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  Omaha  and  other  smaller 
centers. 

A  man  who  works  only  a  part  of  the  year,  but  earns  during  that  time 
sufficient  to  keep  himself  and  his  family  during  the  idle  period,  does  not 
constitute  a  part  of  the  acute  unemployment  problem  with  which  the  Com- 
mission is  concerned.  The  question  then  is  whether  this  group  of  men  which, 
joining  with  the  returned  harvest  hand,  the  unskilled  of  the  building  trades, 
and  all  the  others  whose  work  ends  with  the  beginning  of  winter,  can  secure 
employment  during  the  winter  months  or,  failing  in  this,  whether  they  can 
live  on  what  they  have  saved  during  the  summer  season.  The  possibilities 
of  employment  are  odd  jobs  during  the  holiday  season,  a  short  season  usually 
not  beginning  until  after  the  first  of  January,  in  the  ice  fields,  the  lumber 
camps  of  the  north,  construction  work  on  the  southern  railroads  and  a  few 
days  at  shoveling  snow.  These  opportunities  are  far  too  few  when  measured 
by  the  number  who  are  in  need  of  employment,  and  so  the  next  question  is 
whether  the  savings  of  the  men  are  adequate  for  the  winter  season,  and  if 
not,  whether  this  is  due  to  low  wages,  bad  habits,  the  high  cost  of  board,  or 
unnecessary  expenditures  connected  with  securing  the  work. 

The  wages  of  the  "hoboes"  and  "foreigners"  are  usually  the  same,  during 
the  past  season  from  $1.80  to  $2.00  a  day,  two  years  ago  $1.25  to  $1.60  a  day. 
In  every  other  respect  the  two  groups  are  so  different  that  they  must  be 
considered  separately. 

The  "hoboes,"  or  "white"  laborers,  as  the  men  are  sometimes  called, 
very  often  ship  out  with  no  intention  of  going  to  work.  The  payment  of  an 
employment  agency  fee  gets  him  much  more  comfortably  and  safely  to 
Minneapolis,  Billings,  Denver  or  even  California,  than  "beating  his  way." 
Those  who  go  to  work  at  the  place  to  which  they  were  shipped  usually  stay 
only  ten  or  fourteen  days.  They  sleep  in  the  freight-car  bunks  which  the 
railroad  provides  free  of  charge,  pay  a  Commissary  Company  $4.00  or  $5.00 
a  week  for  wretched  board  and  four  or  five  prices  for  tobacco,  gloves,  shirts 
and  other  supplies.  Liquor  is  also  sometimes  sold  in  the  camp  for  exorbi- 
tant prices.  Bad  as  the  food,  the  sleeping  quarters  and  the  wages  are,  these 
are  no  longer  the  reason  why  the  "hoboes"  drift  from  camp  to  camp,  back 
to  the  city,  out  to  the  harvest  field  for  a  few  days,  on  to  the  road  again  and 
finally  back  to  the  city  in  November  with  about  $30.00  in  money.  Here  they 
frequent  the  five  and  ten-cent  lodging  houses,  the  "barrel  shops''^  on  West 
Madison  or  South  State  streets,  and  are  hungry,  cold  and  wretched  during 
January,  February  and  March.  The  "hobo"  is  physically  and  morally  what 
his  work  and  living  conditions  have  made  him.  Demoralizing  as  any  kind 
of  temporary  work  is,  this  construction  work  at  a  distance  from  cities  or 
towns  is  much  worse  than  that  which  conies  with  the  rush  season  in  city 
factories  and  shops.  Their  freight-car  bunks  are  usually  unspeakably  dirty, 
the  food  is  wretched,  the  work  is  hard  and  the  hours  long.  Separated  from 
their  families  and  from  society  generally,  without  normal  wholesome  recrea- 
tions, the  men  are  the  easy  victims  of  vice.  And  so  many  of  the  Irish, 
American  and  English  laborers  of  a  generation  ago,  forced  by  the  necessities 
of  our  industrial  system  into  being  homeless  workmen,  employed  for  six  or  eight 
months  a  year,  have  become  diseased  and  helpless,  incapable  of  the  self- 
control  which  is  necessary  for  regular  employment.  Whether  any  have 
passed  from  the  class  permanently  of  "under  employed,"  as  casual  laborers 
are  often  called,  into  the  class  of  "unemployables,"  the  city  has  made  no 
effort  to  discover.  Improved  conditions  in  the  camps,  better  wages  in  the 
summer,  or  jobs  in  the  winter,  will  not  meet  the  present  needs  of  many  of 
these  men.  For  them  the  city  should  have,  co-operating  with  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House,  a  farm,  where  they  could  be  sent  to  receive  skilled  medical 
and  social  treatment. 

With  the  "foreigners"  the  case  is  quite  different.  The  testimony  of  all 
the  railroads  consulted  is  that  unless  the  whole  gang  leaves  because  they  do 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 71 

not  like  the  work  or  the  camp,  or  for  some  cause  which,  according  to  the 
railroad,  "cannot  be  ascertained,"  they  stay  until  the  work  is  over  or  the 
season  closes.  There  is  little  of  the  restless,  irresponsible  drifting  back  and 
forth,  which  characterizes  the  hobo  group. 

These  men  secure  their  work  through  private  employment  agents,  each 
road  usually  depending  upon  some  one  agency  to  supply  its  gangs.  These 
agents  charge  fees  varying  with  the  season  and  with  the  amount  of  work 
that  is  being  done.  In  the  early  spring,  when  all  the  men  are  eager  to 
get  out,  the  fee  is  as  high  as  ten,  fifteen  or  even  twenty  dollars.  In  the 
summer,  when  gangs  are  hard  to  fill,  free  shipments  are  common.  Division 
of  fees  with  the  railroad  bosses  or  employment  superintendents,  although 
contrary  to  law>  is  undoubtedly  often  demanded. 

The  agent  also  has  to  pay  grocers,  steamship  agents  and  bankers  who 
supply  him  with  gangs  of  men.  Misrepresentation  on  the  part  of  the  agent 
is  common,  although  the  law  provides  that  an  explicit  contract  in  a  language 
he  understands  shall  be  issued  every  man  shipped.  One  gang  with  which  an 
investigator  was  sent  out  spent  the  time  during  the  railroad  journey  in 
speculation  as  to  what  the  work  was  going  to  be — some  thought  they  were 
bound  for  the  mines,  others  for  a  lumber  camp,  and  still  others  for  railroad 
work.  Sometimes  the  misrepresentations  relate  to  the  wages,  the  kind  of 
bunks,  the  food,  or  the  particular  kind  of  railroad  work  that  is  to  be  done. 

The  foreigner  usually  refuses  to  board  with  a  commissary  company. 
The  employment  agent  or  the  grocer  with  whom  he  has  an  understanding 
furnishes  the  food,  usually  overcharging  for  it.  Each  man  prepares  his  own 
or  sometimes  a  group  of  "messes"  together.  If  this  arrangement  for  board- 
ing themselves  is  interferred  with,  it  is  sure  to  send  the  gang  back  to 
Chicago  in  search  of  another  job. 

The  sleeping  accommodations  sometimes  are  the  cause  of  desertions  from 
the  camp.  Gangs  leave  because  the  bunks  are  not  clean,  because  the  cars 
leak,  or  because  the  camp  is  placed  in  an  unsanitary  location.  The  camps 
where  shacks  or  tents  are  provided,  such  as  those  maintained  by  the  Sanitary 
Board  during  the  building  of  the  Drainage  Canal  and  those  maintained  by 
the  United  States  government  in  building  the  irrigation  ditches,  are  popular 
with  the  men,  and  there  is  in  consequence  comparatively  little  shifting.  In 
some  of  these  there  is  an  approach  to  normal  family  life — the  men's  wives 
are  with  them  and  provision  is  made  for  housekeeping  and  gardening.  If 
work  is  near  the  city  and  the  men  are  taken  to  and  from  their  work  daily, 
there  is  also  no  difficulty  in  keeping  the  gang  full. 

When  cold  weather  comes  and  the  camps  all  over  the  north  and  west 
are  closed,  all  those  who  have  been  at  work  for  any  length  of  time  are  passed 
back  to  Chicago  or  the  city  from  which  they  come.  The  foreigners  return 
much  better  off  than  the  hoboes.  'They  have  earned  more,  spent  some  less 
for  better  food  and  much  less  for  liquor.  For  some  of  them  the  money  they 
bring  back,  supplemented  by  occasional  odd  jobs,  may  last  until  spring  unless 
the  winter  is  severe.  Some  of  them  invest  their  savings  in  some  small  busi- 
ness enterprise — a  fruit  stand,  a  shoe-shine  parlor,  or  a  peddler's  wagon.  A 
good  many  are  ambitious  to  find  regular  work  for  the  year  and  hope  that 
they  have  spent  their  last  summer  on  the  road.  But  regular  employment  is 
extremely  difficult  to  find  at  this  season,  and  so  spring  finds  them  making 
their  payments  to  ship  out.  On  others  the  life  has  already  had  its  effect 
and  they  are  beginning  to  find  the  •summer  journey  into  the  west  and  the 
long  idleness  of  the  winter,  in  spite  of  the  privations  and  hardships,  prefer- 
able to  the  monotony  of  factory  work. 

The  immigrant  is  at  no  time  so  much  in  need  of  disinterested  advice 
and  assistance  as  when  he  first  offers  himself  in  the  labor  market.  That  he 
should  receive  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages,  should  work  under  decent  condi- 
tions, and  should  not  be  sent  out  to  jobs  which  do  not  exist,  is  of  first  im- 
portance to  the  American  laborer  as  well  as  the  immigrant.  At  present  he  is 
at  the  mercy  of  private  employment  agents,  who  find  his  helplessness  a  great 
temptation  or  a  great  opportunity.  The  organization  of  really  efficient  and 
intelligently  managed  labor  exchanges  is  the  only  way  out  of  this  situation. 
It  would  result  not  only  in  the  saving  of  fees,  but  would  also  mean  reliable 


72 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

information  about  the  job,  and  intelligent  study  of  employment  opportunities 
to  see  if  continuous  work  is  not  possible,  and  better  adjustment  of  the  man 
to  the  job.  The  beginning  of  such  a  system  of  labor  exchanges  already 
exists.  The  Bureau  of  Information  in  the  United  States  Immigration  De- 
partment is  intended  to  assist  in  the  intelligent  distribution  of  immigrants. 
Although  this  bureau  was  created  in  1907,  no  offices  have  been  established 
west  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  so  the  national  possibilities  of  the  plan  have 
never  been  tested.  For  even  an  adequate  approach  to  the  problem  we  are 
considering  this  bureau  must  develop  into  a  central  clearing  house  for  native 
as  well  as  immigrant  laborers.  For  Chicago's  problem  the  first  step  is  the 
establishment  of  a  branch  office  in  Chicago. 

The  Illinois  employment  offices  are  poorly  organized  and  so  have  never 
had  the  support  or  interest  of  the  general  public.  Their  reorganization  is 
necessary  for  a  knowledge  of  the  Illinois  market. 

The  railroads  are  divided  in  their  attitude  toward  public  labor  exchanges. 
Three  of  those  who  replied  to  the  questions  submitted  were  of  the  opinion 
that  a  central  state  agency,  if  efficiently  conducted,  would  greatly  improve 
the  situation.  One  thought  it  would  not  be  effective  unless  all  idle  men 
could  be  compelled  to  register,  another  that  it  would  be  successful  if  con- 
ducted so  as  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  men,  another  it  would  fail  be- 
cause it  would  reach  only  the  "hoboes"  and  not  the  foreigners.  One  thinks 
the  agency  would  "have  to  be  able  to  control  all  migratory  labor,"  and  an- 
other thinks  the  success  would  depend  on  whether  the  agency  were  managed 
by  "practical  men  or  by  political  organizations  and  labor  agents."  If  a  cen- 
tral exchange  were  under  the  direction  of  a  man  of  social  intelligence  and 
executive  ability  who  would  secure  the  co-operation  of  the  employing  public 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  situation  would  be  greatly  improved. 

Construction  and  general  repair  work  must  be  done  and  it  must  of 
necessity  be  seasonal.  Chicago  has  therefore  a  very  definite  problem  to 
face.  It  is  substantially  a  question  of  how  far  winter  employment  can  be 
secured,  how  the  savings  of  the  men  can  be  increased,  and  how  those  who 
are  just  entering  this  group  of  workers  can  be  protected  against  those  demor- 
alizing influences  which  have  made  so  many  of  their  predecessors  "unem- 
ployables."  For  accomplishing  this  the  following  recommendations  are  made: 

1.  Establishment   of   a   Chicago   office   of   the   United   States    Bureau   of 
Information. 

2.  Reorganization    under   a    central    office,   and    intelligent    management 
of  the  state  free  employment  offices. 

3.  Inspection  of  camps  by  the  State  Board  of  Health  and  by  the  Fed- 
eral   Government.      Sanitary    conditions   are    extremely    important,    not   alone 
to  protect  the  men,  but  because  upon  their  return  to  the  city  the  entire  city 
population  may  be  infected. 

4.  Provision  for  educational  and  social  life  in  the  camps.     A  traveling 
school  house,  which  would  be  a  school  where  English  is  taught  to  foreigners 
a  few  nights  in  the  week  and  a  real  social  center  the  rest  of  the  time,  should 
be  provided.     Such   a  school  would  serve  to  keep   the  camp  free   from  the 
moral  diseases,  which,  more  than  the  physical,  have  been  the  cause  of  the 
ruin  of  the  men. 

5.  Regulation  of  prices  charged  by  the  Commissary  Companies  and  for- 
eign grocers  who  supply  the  camps. 

6.  Scientific   treatment  in  a  farm   colony  for  the  "hoboes"  who   are   no 
longer  fit  for  regular  work. 

7.  Better   wages    and    the    encouragement   by    the    railroads    of    regular 
work,  so  that  employment  will  be  as  nearly  regular  as  possible. 

GRACE  ABBOTT. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 73 

III.    CASUAL  LABORERS. 
By  Victor  Olander. 

The  migratory  labor  herein  referred  to  is  that  of  various  employments 
where  the  work  is  largely  unskilled  and  seasonal,  limited  to  brief  periods, 
casual,  and  shifting  from  one  locality  to  another,  in  and  out  of  the  large  in- 
dustrial centers,  and  including  practically  all  cases  where  large  numbers  of 
workers  are  required  outside  of  the  towns  and  cities. 

Every  large  city  is  a  kind  of  storage  place  for  this  class  of  labor,  and 
a  distributing  point  from  which  the  workers  go  or  are  sent  to  various  places 
throughout  the  country,  and  to  which  they  return  when  the  work  for  which 
they  were  hired  is  completed.  The  great  class  of  migratory  laborers  thus 
form  a  very  vital  part  of  the  problem  of  unemployment  in  every  city,  and 
particularly  so  in  Chicago,  on  account  of  its  central  location.  The  cities  feel 
their  presence  most  acutely  during  the  winter  months,  when  outdoor  con- 
struction work,  farm  labor,  road  building  and  similar  employments  are  at 
a  standstill. 

Owing  to  the  utterly  disorganized  condition  of  these  workers — socially, 
politically  and  industrially — they  are  comparatively  easy  victims  to  any  who 
desire  to  prey  upon  them,  and  they  suffer  accordingly.  Not  being  a  perma- 
nent part  of  any  community,  they  are  regarded  as  aliens  everywhere. 

While  at  all  times  many  thousands  are  unemployed  in  one  part  of  the 
country,  in  another  section  there  may  be  and  often  is  a  scarcity  of  such 
laborers.  If  a  system  could  be  established  whereby  they  could  be  kept  prop- 
erly distributed,  the  problem  of  unemployment  in  Chicago  would  not  be  so 
great  as  it  is  under  the  present  circumstances. 

The  system  of  private  employment  agencies  through  which  this  class 
of  labor  is  largely  distributed  is  vicious  in  the  extreme.  However,  it  seems 
unnecessary  to  take  up  space  here  in  pointing  out  the  unfair  practices  of  the 
employment  sharks  and  the  methods  they  use  in  victimizing  the  laborers. 
They  have  been  exposed  often  and  should  be  put  out  of  business.  Nothing 
can  be  done  through  them  to  remedy  the  problems  confronting  the  migratory 
laborer. 

The  public  or  state  employment  agencies,  even  though  established  on  a 
large  scale,  would  be  of  little  more  service  than  are  the  private  agencies,  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  that  state  agencies  might  bring  about  easier  distribution  (not 
better  distribution)  of  the  class  of  labor  herein  referred  to,  and  that  the 
workers  would  not  be  subjected  to  quite  so  much  graft  as  under  present 
conditions. 

The  business  of  any  system  of  employment  agencies,  whether  state  or 
private,  is  solely  to  furnish  laborers  to  employers.  Thus,  such  agencies, 
,no  matter  how  honestly  operated,  have  no  concern  about  the  wages,  work- 
ing hours,  or  other  conditions  under  which  the  labor  is  to  be  per- 
formed. The  state  agency  system,  therefore,  would  be  of  little  service  in 
helping  the  workers  to  keep  themselves  properly  distributed,  and  of  no  use 
at  all,  nay,  even  detrimental,  in  the  work  of  securing  any  real  improvement. 

There  is,  however,  a  well-proven  system  whereby  the  problem  of  this 
class  of  labor  can  be  largely  solved,  and  the  unemployment  evil  in  the  large 
industrial  centers,  Chicago  particularly,  can  be  materially  lessened.  It 
involves  the  establishment  of  a  series  of  information  bureaus,  under  the 
control  of  the  workers  themselves,  whose  business  it  would  be  to  gather 
and  receive  information  regarding  the  conditions  of  employment  throughout 
the  country,  such  as  the  number  of  workers  needed  in  various  localities,  the 
number  of  men  responding,  the  wages,  hours  of  labor  and  working  conditions 
generally. 

Information  thus  received  would  be  regarded  as  entirely  trustworthy 
by  the  workers,  and  they  would  soon  learn  where  the  best  opportunities 
existed  during  given  periods,  and  as  a  result  would  voluntarily  distribute 
themselves  accordingly.  They  would  also,  as  a  most  natural  and  necessary 
consequence,  use  their  control  over  such  information  offices  to  secure  better 
wages,  shorter  hours  of  labor  and  improved  living  and  working  conditions. 


74 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

The  result  would  be  beneficial  to  the  cities,  which  would  be  largely 
relieved  of  the  present  burden  of  unemployed  workers  of  this  class.  It 
would  make  better  citizens  of  the  workers  themselves,  and  thus  benefit 
both  the  state  and  the  nation. 

The  method  I  advocate  is  not  very  popular  with  employers,  but  it  is  a 
practical  method  and  will  bring  some  real  results. 

No  class  of  workers  move  about  over  larger  areas  than  do  seamen. 
The  offices  of  the  Seamen's  Union  on  the  Great  Lakes  and  on  the  seaboards 
are  all  information  bureaus  on  the  subject  of  employment  at  the  various 
ports.  Once  each  week  reports  are  exchanged  between  all  union  offices, 
giving  general  information  as  to  the  number  of  idle  men  in  each  port  and  the 
opportunities  for  securing  employment.  As  a  result  of  this  constant  source 
of  information,  which  they  know  is  reliable,  the  men  keep  themselves  evenly 
distributed  at  all  times.  When  any  number  of  men  are  needed  suddenly 
and  are  not  obtainable  locally  they  are  sent  by  the  union  from  the  nearest 
port  where  they  can  be  obtained.  On  one  occasion  about  four  hundred  sail- 
ors were  needed  at  Duluth  suddenly.  A  large  fleet  of  idle  vessels  had  been 
ordered  into  commission  quickly.  Within  thirty-six  hours  after  the  Chicago 
office  of  the  union  had  been  notified  a  sufficient  number  of  men  were  on 
their  way  to  Duluth.  The  transportation  of  about  three  hundred  of  these 
was  advanced  by  the  union,  others  paying  their  own  way.  The  employers 
reimbursed  the  union  for  transportation  given  men  who  reported  for  work 
after  arrival.  In  other  cases,  where  men  changed  their  opinions  about  going 
to  work  after  accepting  transportation,  the  settlement  was  between  the 
member  and  the  union. 

Practically  every  labor  organization  of  any  note  maintains  a  system  of 
information  similar  to  that  described  herein,  and  a  number  pay  traveling 
and  unemployed  benefits. 

The  migratory  and  casual  laborers  will  remain  in  their  present  deplorable 
condition,  victims  of  irresponsible  graft  and  greed,  a  burden  upon  the  cities, 
and  difficult  for  other  portions  of  the  country  to  obtain  when  needed,  until 
they  are  given  an  opportunity  to  help  themselves.  In  this  they  must  be 
encouraged.  No  other  real  help  can  be  given  them.  In  the  interest  of  the 
citizens  of  Chicago,  I  believe  the  Commission  on  Unemployment  should  call 
public  attention  to  this  fact.  Such  action  on  the  part  of  the  Commission 
would,  of  course,  be  a  departure  from  the  established  course  usually  pursued 
by  even  the  best  intentioned  municipal  investigating  bodies.  Generally  the 
remedies  advocated  are  more  poor  houses,  soup  kitchens,  attempts  at  regu- 
lating the  present  evil  employment  agency  system  or,  occasionally,  suggest- 
ing that  public  work  of  various  kinds  be  started  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
employment  to  some  of  the  idle  workers.  All  of  which  is  very  charitable, 
to  be  sure,  and  is  so  regarded  by  those  whom  it  is  assumed  will  be  benefited. 
But  it  only  aggravates  the  situation,  induces  larger  numbers  to  congregate 
in  the  large  cities,  and  will,  I  believe,  ultimately  result  in  making  conditions 
much  worse  instead  of  better. 

The  real  remedy  can  only  be  applied  by  the  workers  themselves,  but 
the  Commission  on  Unemployment  can,  if  it  chooses,  help  to  point  the  way. 
If  the  suggestion  I  offer,  that  of  encouraging  this  class  of  labor  in  the  essen- 
tially necessary  duty  of  self-help,  will,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Commission, 
serve  to  make  conditions  better,  then  it  ought  to  say  so  plainly  and  emphat- 
ically. If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  arrives  at  any  other  conclusion,  which  would, 
in  my  opinion,  mean  that  it  believes  this  enormous  number  of  American 
workmen  unfitted  to  take  care  of  themselves,  incapable  of  even  participating 
in  the  attempts  at  a  solution  of  the  problems  confronting  them,  then  the 
Commission  ought  not  to  hesitate  to  announce  its  opinion  of  these  people. 
In  event  of  the  latter  conclusion  being  arrived  at,  it  would  seem  to  me  en- 
tirely fitting  that  the  Commission  should  recommend  more  municipal  lodg- 
ing houses,  larger  county  institutions  for  the  poor,  increased  public  charities 
of  various  kinds,  an  extension  of  the  free  public  employment  bureaus,  and 
other  means  whereby  the  workers  will  be  persuaded  that  the  practice  of 
self-help  and  the  rendering  of  mutual  aid  among  their  own  class  is  an  un- 
necessary virtue. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 75 

But  I  believe  it  would  be  much  better  fo  consider  these  laborers  as  cit- 
izens, who  have  duties  to  perform  to  themselves  and  to  their  fellows,  rather 
than  to  view  them  merely  as  workers  who  have  only  to  accept  jobs  from  em- 
ployers or  charity  from  public  or  private  institutions.  And  in  this  I  am  sure 
you,  as  one  member  of  the  Commission,  will  agree  with  me. 

V.  A.   OLANDER. 

REPORT  OF  THE  SUB-COMMITTEE  ON  OVER-EMPLOYMENT 
AND  UNDER-EMPLOYMENT. 

By  Mary  McDowell,  Adolph  Petratis,   E.   L.  Talbert. 

The  sub-committee  on  the  relation  of  immigrant  labor  to  unemployment 
desires  to  submit  the  following  statement: 

A  series  of  questions  has  been  sent  to  social  settlements  and  other  wel- 
fare institutions  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  the  extent  of  casual  labor 
among  immigrant  men  and  women,  both  in  domestic  service  and  odd  jobs 
amd  in  stores  and  factories.  Another  questionnaire  has  also  been  sent  to 
representative  manufacturing  establishments,  both  large  and  small. 

We  have  some  interesting  statements  from  those  engaged  in  social 
service  agencies  as  to  the  causes,  extent  and  prevention  of  unemployment 
of  foreign  people,  but  the  data  are  largely  inexact,  representing  the  impression 
of  those  busy  with  many  activities  in  specific  localities. 

From  the  manufacturers  the  returns  have  been  disappointing,  partly 
because  the  employers  do  not  record  the  needed  information,  partly  because 
they  have  not  time  to  delegate  one  of  their  employees  to  go  over  the  books. 

We  wish  to  outline  some  of  the  suggestions  offered  by  the  respondents 
to  the  questionnaire  sent  to  social  welfare  agencies.  One  of  the  questions 
asked  was:  "Will  you  suggest  remedies  for  the  conditions  due  to  casual 
labor  of  immigrant  men  and  women?  Do  the  slack  seasons  of  some  indus- 
tries occur  when  other  industries  are  working  full  time?  Could  the  workers 
be  shifted  from  one  plant  to  another,  thus  guaranteeing  steady  work  for 
some? 

1.  A  number   of  answers   may  be  grouped   under  the   general   heading, 
"Education."     It  was  suggested  that  provision  be  made  to  train  women   in 
house-work   and    needle-work,    since    it   was    agreed    that    immigrant   women 
were   often   inefficient   and  unsteady.     The   same   thing  is   true   of  the   men. 
Several  respondents  urged  that  men  be  better  trained  industrially  that  they 
may   fit   into   several   industries   and   be   able   to   shift   from   one   to   another. 
How  this  training  of  unskilled  immigrants  during  idle  periods  is  to  be  done, 
and  who  is  to  do  it,  was  not  offered.     It  was  contended  that  insecurity  and 
low  wages  were  often   due   to  the   ignorance  of  the   men  in   regard  to   our 
language   and   customs,   and   consequently,   that   competent  advice   in   regard 
to  the  best  places  available  should  be  provided. 

In  addition  to  the  need  of  educating  workers,  it  was  said  that  employers 
themselves  do  not  appreciate  their  responsibilities  and  often  do  not  know  the 
hardships  borne  by  their  employees.  One  person  thought  that  the  employer 
should  engage  a  leader  of  each  nationality,  whose  business  should  be  to  advise 
and  understand  his  countrymen  and  cultivate  a  spirit  of  co-operation  and 
sympathy  instead  of  the  prevailing  indifference  and  even  hostility  of  the 
employee  to  the  interests  of  the  employer. 

2.  A  second  line  of  answers  referred  to  the  necessity  of  standardizing 
wages   and   hours   of  work.     Hotel   and   office-cleaning  work   for  women   is 
somewhat  standardized,  but  the  estimates  of  wages  and  hours  of  women  who 
do  odd  jobs  show  that  this  is  not  true.    The  women  have  as  a  rule  no  guar- 
antee of  uniform  hours  and  the  wages  vary  from  75  cents  to  $2.00  per  day. 
The    number    of    hours    employed    fluctuates    greatly.      Several    persons    said 
that  eight  hours  a  day  and  five  days  per  week  ought  to  be  the  maximum  for 
a  woman. 

Similar  conditions  prevail  in  regard  to  men  who  do  odd  jobs,  though  the 
information  advanced  was  indefinite.  Wages  of  unskilled  immigrant  men, 


73  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

it  was  estimated,  ranged  from  $8.00  to  $11.00  per  week,  with  frequent  periods 
of  idleness. 

3.  In  order  to  meet  this  situation,  several  persons  urged  the  need,  and 
also  the  difficulty,  of  organizing  the  labor  force,  both  of  men  and  women. 
Others   thought   that   employers,    if   they   wanted   to,   could   manage    to    pay 
higher  wages  and  guarantee  steadier  work. 

As  regards  seasonal  work,  the  suggestion  was  made  that  by  an  under- 
standing and  union  among  employers,  work  in  individual  plants  could  be 
steadied,  and  men  could  be  shifted  from  one  plant  to  another  in  some  lines 
of  work.  Selling  at  lower  prices  during  the  slack  season  was  also  noted  as 
a  means  to  stimulate  business.  Many  industries  shut  down  in  the  winter 
months  instead  of  in  the  busy  summer,  according  to  many  answers,  and  it 
was  judged  that  in  some  cases  this  could  be  changed  by  employers. 

This  query  was  offered:  Is  it  possible  for  the  city  to  employ  men  in 
street  cleaning,  construction  work,  etc.,  during  the  slack  seasons? 

4.  A  final  group  of  questions  related  to  the  province  of  the  state  and 
the  municipality  as  regards  the  control   of  unemployment. 

There  was  first  the  indefinite  statement  that  state  legislation  could  dp 
something  to  standardize  wages  and  dovetail  the  seasons  of  unskilled  immi- 
grant labor  in  the  various  industries.  Second,  it  was  maintained  that  there 
was  now  no  efficient  clearing  house  for  all  grades  of  workers,  that  we  have  no 
reliable  knowledge  of  the  industries  in  the  community,  that  there  is  no  com- 
petent employment  bureau  which  advises  men  and  women,  which  compre- 
hends the  shifting  state  of  industry  in  city  and  country  and  really  controls 
the  situation. 

In  our  judgment  the  information  which  we  are  able  to  gather  is  inade- 
quate. It  expresses  opinions  and  impressions,  but  has  little  scientific  value. 
It  is  necessary  to  work  out  a  systematic  line  of  investigation  and  employ 
competent  persons  who  can  devote  their  entire  time  and  attention  to  this 
problem. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

MARY  MCDOWELL, 
ADOLPH  PETRATIS, 
E.  L.  TALBERT, 

Committee  on  Casual  Immigrant  Labor. 

REPORT  OF  THE  SUB-COMMITTEE  ON  CHARITIES. 
By  Thomas  W.  Allinson. 

Mr.  Louis  F.  Post,  Chairman,  Immigration  Committee  of  the  Commission  of 
Unemployed: 

Dear  Sir:  Pursuant  to  your  assignment  of  a  sub-committee  to  investigate 
unemployment  as  a  cause  of  charitable  relief  among  immigrants,  I  beg  to 
report: 

1.  That  your   committee  has   canvassed   the  various  public   and   private 
agencies    which    are    called    upon    for    relief    by    immigrants,    including    the 
Swedish,  Polish,  Bohemian,  German  and  other  national  societies,  the  United 
Jewish  Charities,  the  B'nai  B'rith  Free  Employment  Agency,  Shelter  House, 
Salvation  Army,  the  United  Charities  and  the  Cook  County  Agent. 

2.  Your  committee  does  not  find-  that  any  of  these  agencies  have  their 
records    in    such    shape    that    the    accurate    and    detailed    information    desired 
could  be  readily  ascertained.     In  the  cases  of  the  United  Charities  and  the 
Jewish   Societies   such   data  could   be   obtained  by   competent  persons   going 
through  their  files,  and  attempts  have  been  made  by  these  societies  to  detail 
their  cases,  but  the  pressure  of  work  upon  them  has  not  permitted  this  to 
be    done.      Your    committee,    lacking    volunteers    who    could    undertake    this 
work  and  being  without  financial  resources  to  employ  such  service,  has  been 
unable  to  do  this. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 77 

3.     Your  committee   submits,  however,   this   information: 

(a)  From  the  County  Agent's  report  the  number  of  persons  receiv- 
ing relief,  and   the   number   and   percentage   giving  unemployment   as   a 
cause,  for  the  calendar  years  1908,  to  1911,  were: 

1908.                        Total,  11,714  4,195  35.8% 

1909 Total,  9,309  2,211  23.7% 

1910.                            Total,  8,191  1,338  16.3% 

1911 Total,  10,654  2,080  19.5% 

(b)  The  United   Charities  reports   out  of  eight  of  its   ten   districts, 
from  October  1,  1911,  to  March  1,  1912,  the  following: 

Of  7,919  cases  assisted,  2,521  claimed  unemployment  as  the  cause  of 
distress — an  average  of  32%,  as  against  a  normal  average  approximating 
20%.  The  term  "cases,"  as  used,  generally  means  families,  and  few 
single  men. 

(c)  A  comparison  of  the  records  of  the  Jewish  Aid  Societies  shows: 

1910-11— Total    cases 6,991 

1911-12— Total    cases 7,771 

1910-11 — Cause  of  unemployment 638 

191 1-12 — Cause   of  unemployment 1,196 

1910-1 1 — Insufficient    earnings 1,235 

1911-12 — Insufficient    earnings 1,335 

An  increase  of  from  9  to  15  per  cent. 

(d)  By  far  the  most  informing  reports  covering  the  field  are  those 
of     the     Immigration     Commission — "Immigrants     as     Charity     Seekers," 
Senate  Document  No.  665,  Vol.  1.     This  volume,  on  pages  157,  158,  deals 
with  cases  assisted  by  the  United  Charities  of  Chicago  December  1,  1908, 
to  May  31,  1909.     This  report  is  suggestive  as  well  as  informing,  and  will 
well  serve  as  a  basis  for  drawing  conclusions.    The  three  years  that  have 
passed  in  no  way  invalidate  its  findings,  nor  have  any  new  facts  devel- 
oped to  materially  change  the  situation  as  presented. 

This  point  should  always  be  borne  in  mind:  That  Chicago,  by  reason 
of  its  geographical  situation  and  terminal  facilities,  is  most  easy  of  access 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  thus  is  frequented  by  persons  out  of  work 
and  on  the  verge  of  pauperism  to  a  greater  degree  probably  than  any  other 
city  of  the  country. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

T.  W.  ALLINSON, 
Chairman,    Sub-committee. 

REPORT    OF   THE    SUB-COMMITTEE    ON    IMMIGRATION 

STATISTICS. 

By  Miss  Grace  Abbott,  Miss  S.  P.  Breckenridge,  Louis  F.   Post. 

An  exhaustive  report  on  immigration  statistics  with  reference  to  unem- 
ployment in  Chicago,  while  it  might  probably  be  within  the  province  of  your 
committee,  is  not  within  its  power  to  offer.  All  we  find  reasonably  possible 
under  the  circumstances  is  to  refer  generally  to  such  sources  of  statistical 
information  as  may  throw  some  light  upon  the  general  inquiry  and  to  report 
specifically  upon  such  as  either  disclose  important  facts  or  suggest  lines  of 
further  inquiry  and  verification. 

In  the  annual  report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  to 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1911,  there  are  statements  that  would  be  highly  pertinent  and  significant 
if  they  were  verified.  An  example  appears  at  pages  5  and  6.  Here  we  find 
immigration  characterized  as  "a  business  in  the  fullest  sense  of  that  term," 
and  one  in  which  in  its  present  condition,  national  difficulties  "are  increased 
rather  than  reduced  by  the  various  schemes — private,  charitable  and  public — 
that  are  being  operated  or  advocated  and  advertised  for  the  general  distri- 


78 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

bution  of  aliens."  With  reference  to  and  in  explanation  of  this  statement 
the  report  in  question  proceeds:  "So  far  as  trans-oceanic  immigration  is 
concerned,  the  greatest  beneficiaries  are  the  steamship  lines;  with  respect 
to  Mexican  peon  labor,  the  large  employers  and  labor  agencies."  In  the 
same  connection  this  official  report  asserts,  at  page  6,  that  "such  concerns 
as  railway  lines,  constructing  contractors,  meat-packing  houses  and  the  like, 
using  large  numbers  of  unskilled  laborers,  are  always  glad  to  have  a  surplus 
on  hand  so  as  to  be  kept  in  position  to  keep  wages  at  the  minimum."  Further 
emphasis  of  this  alleged  condition  may  be  found  on  pages  117,  118,  in  the  text 
of  the  same  report.  We  quote  it  literally:  "Much  of  the  immigration  which 
we  now  receive  is  artificial,  in  that  it  is  induced  or  stimulated  and  encouraged 
by  persons  and  corporations  whose  principal  interest  is  to  increase  the 
steerage  passenger  business  of  their  lines,  to  introduce  into  the  United 
States  an  over-abundant,  and  therefore  cheap,  supply  of  common  labor,  or 
to  exploit  the  poor,  ignorant  immigrant  to  their  own  advantage  by  loaning 
him  money  at  usurious  rates;  or,  as  now  so  frequently  happens,  in  the  organ- 
ized and  systematized  state  of  the  business,  a  combination  of  the  three  ele- 
ments, so  that  money-lenders  and  ticket  agents  abroad,  the  transportation 
companies  and  the  labor  brokers  and  large  employers  of  common  labor  here, 
each  receive  their  portion  of  the  benefits  and  proceeds."  These  statements 
are  not  supported  by  the  published  data;  but  they  are  made  so  positively 
upon  official  responsibility  and  are  of  so  much  significance  with  reference 
to  the  problems  submitted  to  the  Mayor's  Commission  on  Unemployment 
in  Chicago  that  your  sub-committee  would  recommend  a  thorough  investi- 
gation, if  the  means  for  making  it  were  available.  In  any  inquiry  into  the 
causes  of  unemployment  a  solemn  official  assurance  by  a  great  federal  bureau 
to  the  effect  that  employers  are  deliberately  over-stocking  the  supply  of 
labor  in  order  to  depress  wages  should  not  be  disregarded. 

As  to  the  number  of  immigrants  that  actually  come  to  Chicago,  there  is 
no  definite  information.  The  annual  report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of 
Immigration  referred  to  above  gives  their  declared  destination  by  states. 
For  example,  in  the  report  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1911,  we  find  (pages 
32-34)  that  out  of  a  total  of  878,587  immigrant  aliens  admitted  in  that  fiscal 
year  the  intended  future  residence  of  more  than  one-eighth  was  in  the  Chi- 
cago region,  as  follows: 

Illinois    76,565 

Indiana   8,482 

Iowa    8,829 

Wisconsin    . . ... 14,613 

Missouri 11.243 


119.732 

There  are  no  such  statistics  with  reference  to  Chicago  particularly,  and 
if  there  were  they  would  probably  throw  little  light  upon  the  subject  under 
consideration.  Even  these  statistics  as  to  the  general  region  may  be  away 
from  the  actual  facts.  On  the  one  hand,  immigrants  going  elsewhere  than 
to  their  recorded  destinations  would  diminish  the  drift  of  foreign  immigra- 
tion toward  this  city,  while  those  recorded  for  other  destinations  but  com- 
ing into  the  Chicago  region  would  increase  it. 

The  thirteenth  census  of  the  United  States  (1910)  shows  that  the  pop- 
ulation of  Chicago  increased  28.7  per  cent  from  1900  to  1910,  as  compared 
with  an  increase  of  54.4  per  cent  during  the  previous  decade  (Abstract  of 
Statistics  of  the  Number  and  Distribution  of  Inhabitants,  p.  43);  and  the 
density  of  population  in  Illinois  increased  from  68.3  persons  per  square 
mile  to  86.1  in  1900  and  to  100.6  in  1910.  Nine  other  states  have  greater 
density  than  Illinois.  Figures  are  not  yet  available  indicating  how  far  this 
increase  is  due  to  immigration  during  the  past  decade. 

In  order  to  decide  whether  the  demand  for  labor  has  kept  up  with  the 
increase  in  population  we  should  have  figures  showing  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  men  employed.  But  on  this,  information  is  even  more  meager. 
The  Thirteenth  United  States  Bulletin  (1909)  of  Manufactures  shows  that 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 79 

the  per  cent  of  increase  in  the  average  number  of  wage  earners  employed  is 
manufacturing  in  Chicago  from  1899  to  1904  was  9.4  per  cent,  and  from  1904 
to  1909  was  21.5  per  cent.  How  many  of  these  are  recent  arrivals  we  cannot 
conjecture,  but  the  figures  seem  to  indicate  that  so  far  as  manufacturing  is 
concerned  the  increased  demand  for  labor  has  kept  pace  with  the  increased 
population. 

And  this  would  be  a  fair  inference  from  the  larger  facts  of  industrial 
life.  As  larger  sellers  of  labor,  increased  populations  could  hardly  exhaust 
opportunities  for  employment  at  a  rate  much  greater  than  they  would  them- 
selves maintain  as  larger  consumers  of  labor  products. 

In  1907  Congress  provided  for  a  United  States  Immigration  Commission, 
which  was  to  investigate  immigration  in  all  its  aspects  and  report  its  find- 
ings to  Congress.  During  1908  and  1909  the  Commission  spent  over  half  a 
million  dollars  in  collecting  material,  and  finally,  in  1911,  submitted  a  report 
of  forty-seven  volumes.  Before  presenting  its  report  the  Commission  sub- 
mitted its  conclusions.  Among  others:  That  there  exists  an  over-supply  of 
unskilled  laborers  in  the  United  States,  which  is  made  up  principally  of  the 
recent  immigrants,  and  therefore  recommended  restriction  by  means  of  a 
literacy  test.  This  conclusion  is,  however,  not  susceptible  of  proof  by  any 
figures  as  yet  available.  Adequate  proof  that  the  maximum  supply  of  labor 
either  meets  or  exceeds  the  maximum  demand  cannot  be  given  until  there 
is  some  registration  of  unemployment  through  a  comprehensive  system  of 
labor  exchanges,  which  will  show  how  much  the  apparent  unemployment  is 
due  to  bad  adjustment  and  how  much  to  seasonal  employment  without  ade- 
quate wages. 

GRACE    ABBOTT,    Chairman. 
S.   P.   BRECKENRIDGE, 
LOUIS    F.    POST. 

II.       REPORTS    OF    SUB-COMMITTEES.     4.      RELIEF    AND    UNEM- 
PLOYMENT. 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  RELIEF  AND  UNEMPLOYMENT. 

The  Committee  on  Relief  and  Unemployment  has  investigated  (1)  the 
extent  to  which  the  relief  granted  in  charitable  institutions  of  Chicago  is 
due  to  unemployment,  and  (2)  the  possibility  of  developing  more  suitable 
methods  of  providing  assistance  for  those  unemployed  persons  who  can  find 
no  work  and  who  are  in  need. 

1.    Relief  Granted  Because  of  Unemployment. 

A.  The  United  Charities.  There  are  two  departments  of  the  United 
Charities:  The  district  offices,  dealing  with  resident  families,  and  the  home- 
less men  department.  For  the  year  ending  September  30,  1911,  there  were 
12,324  cases  in  the  district  offices,  of  which  2,486  were  due  to  unemploy- 
ment primarily  (20.1  per  cent);  in  the  homeless  men  department  there  were 
1,878  cases,  practically  all  of  which  were  due  to  unemployment. 

The  Immigration  Commission  made  a  detailed  study  of  the  records  of 
the  Bureau  of  Charities  from  December  1,  1908,  to  May  31,  1909;  on  April 
31,  1909,  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society  was  consolidated  with  the  Bureau  of 
Charities  to  form  the  United  Charities;  after  April  31  the  aid  furnished  by 
the  United  Charities  was  included.  The  total  number  of  cases  dealt  with 
was  3,125;  the  number  of  persons  involved  was  14,123. 

Per  cent  of  cases  and  persons  involved  for  each  class  of  apparent  causes 
of  need  in  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities,  1908-09: 


Apparent  Causes   of   Need. 

Cases 

% 

Persons 
involved  % 

Lack  of  employment  or  insufficient  wages  

58  3 

60.6 

Death   or  disability  of  breadwinner  

33  5 

32  6 

Death  or  disability  of  another  member  of  family  

29  0 

31  8 

Neglect  or  bad  habits  of  breadwinner  

2fi  2 

28  4 

Old    age     

3  9 

1  6 

Other  causes    

10.5 

10.8 

80 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


(From  Report  of  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  34,  p.  161,'  "Immigrants 
as  Charity  Seekers."  This  totals  more  than  100  per  cent,  because  some  cases 
were  reported  as  due  to  more  than  one  cause.)  • 

The  proportion  of  cases  for  each  race  reporting  unemployment  as  a 
cause  of  distress  varies  from  80  per  cent  of  the  cases  in  which  the  head  of 
the  family  was  South  Italian  foreign-born  to  44.5  per  cent  of  the  cases  in 
which  the  head  was  Irish  foreign-born;  for  the  white  native-born  of  native 
father  the  percentage  was  59.6. 

B.  Cook  County  Charity  Service.  The  last  available  record  of  the 
Cook  County  Charity  Service  is  for  1909.  With  this  will  be  compared  the 
report  for  the  previous  year,  when  there  was  more  unemployment  and  dis- 
tress, due  to  the  hard  times  of  1908. 

Causes  of  Distress  in  Out-Door  Relief  Cases  in  Cook  County  Charity 
Service  for  years  ending  November  30,.  1908,  and  November  30,  1909: 


1909 

1908 

No.  of  cases 

% 

No.  of  cases 

% 

Unemployment  

2,281 

24  3 

4,414 

37.7 

Insufficient    earnings    

351 

3  7 

3,381 

28  0 

C.  German  Aid  Society.     The  German  Aid  Society  made  a  special  study 
of  300  cases  that  came  into  their   society  during  the   first  seven   months   of 
1912,  in  which  the  persons  applying  for  relief  were  unemployed.     The  causes 
of  the  unemployment  were  as   follows: 

Old  Age    7  % 

Have  work,   but  can   not   start  on   account  of  lack   of  funds 
to  maintain  them  until  the  first  pay-day,  or  because  wages 

are  held  back   17% 

Laid  off  or  cannot  find  work  in  their  trades 32% 

Convalescent    22% 

Injured    and    sick 22  % 

Total     100% 

Of  these  persons  applying  for  assistance,  82  per  cent  were  single,  18 
per  cent  married;  42  per  cent  were  skilled,  40  per  cent  unskilled  and  18  per 
cent  were  in  professional  work  (actors,  lawyers,  etc.).  This  society  reported 
that  many  of  their  applicants  for  relief  had  been  discharged  from  the  County 
Hospital  before  they  were  able  to  work;  one  man  came  to  the  office  with 
blood  trickling  from  the  wound  of  an  operation  for  appendicitis;  many  come 
in  with  their  hands  or  feet  bandaged  from  freezing  and  entirely  unable  to  do 
any  work.  These  cases  are  dismissed  from  the  County  Hospital  because 
of  the  necessity  of  making  room  for  those  who  are  in  even  worse  condition; 
these  reports  were  verified  in  other  philanthropic  institutions. 

D.  Jewish  Aid  Society.    The  records  of  the  Jewish  Aid  Society  show  the 
number  of  cases  due  to  unemployment  and  to  insufficient  earnings  by  months. 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


81 


Relief  due  to  unemployment  and  insufficient  earnings: 


Year  and  month. 

Total 
cases. 

Cases   caused   by 

Unemployment. 

Insufficient    earnings. 

No. 

%  of  total 

No. 

%  of  total. 

April      1910           

520 
507 
533 
446 
525 
489 
499 
618 
710 
767 
721 
656 
644 
621 
640 
596 
614 
502 
437 
633 
668 
831 
837 
748 
617 

48 
12 
12 
7 
13 
13 
17 
63 
122 
147 
100 
84 
76 
65 
66 
66 
63 
34 
54 
78 
123 
227 
199 
145 
88 

9 
2 
2 
2 
2 
3 
3 
10 
17 
19 
14 
13 
12 
10 
10 
11 
10 
7 
12 
12 
18 
27 
24 
19 
14 

97 
89 
81 
74 
79 
82 
90 
126 
148 
140 
119 
110 
103 
92 
165 
88 
112 
68    • 
99 
114 
97 
148 
166 
143 
109 

19 
17 
15 
17 
15 
17 
18 
20 
21 
18 
16 
17 
16 
15 
17 
15 
18 
13 
23 
18 
15 
18 
19 
19 
18 

JUly                                            

AUgUSt                  

December      

January    1911    

February           

April           

May             

June           

July               

September      

October            

November            

December   

January,    1912    

February          

March           

April  

Total    for    year    ending 
April   30,   1912    

7,744 

1,208 

16 

1.341 

17 

E.  Chicago  Christian  Industrial  League.     The  Chicago  Christian  Indus- 
trial League  had,  from  March,  1910,  to  March  1,  1912,  24,235  cases,  practically 
all  due  to  unemployment. 

F.  The  Volunteers  of  America  report  that  90  per  cent  of  their  appli- 
cants for  assistance  are  unemployed. 

G.  McDowell's   Coffee   Line  gave  assistance  to  about   12,000  men   from 
December   12,   1911,   to   March    18,    1912.     Practically   all   of   these   were   un- 
employed. 

H.  An  investigation  by  the  Committee  on  Nature  and  Extent  of  Unem- 
ployment has  revealed  the  fact  that  for  the  thirty  labor  unions  from  which 
replies  were  received  the  average  member  would  receive  more  than  $700  a 
year  if  steadily  employed;  but  that  actually  the  average  member  in  40.9  per 
cent  of  these  unions  receives  less  than  $700  because  he  is  not  steadily  em- 
ployed. This  decrease  in  earnings  makes  it  necessary  for  these  workers 
either  to  secure  work  elsewhere  than  in  their  trades  or  e.lse  depend  on  sav- 
ings or  charity.  The  conditions  for  workers  not  members  of  labor  unions 
is  probably  even  less  favorable. 

I.  These  figures  for  Chicago  may  be  supplemented  by  investigations 
in  New  York.  A  study  was  made  of  1,500  cases  in  the  Charity  Organization 
Society  of  New  York  during  the  year  1910;  29%  of  these  cases  were  due  to 
unemployment  primarily.  The  Committee  on  Unemployment  in  New  York 
states  with  reference  to  this  "The  effects  of  unemployment  as  gathered 
from  the  records  in  these  cases  illustrate  very  strongly  what  the  most 
dangerous  results  of  unemployment  are.  First,  is  the  fact  that  when  a  man 
is  thrown  out  of  regular  employment,  he  is  likely  after  a  time  to  take  any 
job  that  is  offered.  This  draws  him  into  the  great  group  of  irregular, 
casual  laborers.  At  first,  unable  to  get  steady  work,  he  soon  becomes  un- 
able to  work  steadily,  even  if  the  work  is  available.  Secondly,  the  unem- 
ployed workman  with  a  family  to  support  is  apt  to  resume  work  after  a 
period  of  idleness  at  a  wage  lower  than  his  real  earning  capacity.  The 
necessity  of  his  condition  compels  him  to  accept  any  wage  that  is  offered. 
Thirdly,  the  lower  earning  capacity  of  the  men  compels  the  women  to 
go  out  to  work,  and  that  means  several  children  neglected.  And  fourthly, 


82 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

the  children  neglected  while  they  are  under  the  legal  working  age,  are  sent 

to  work  as  soon  as  the  law  allows But  they  are  seldom  trained  in  any 

occupation  which  will  make  them  capable  of  supporting  a  family  when  they 
grow  up;  for  that  means  a  period  of  apprenticeship  with  little  or  no  earn- 
ings, and  the  family  needs  the  earnings  of  the  child  at  once The  present 

family's  self-support  is  secured  by  making  the  future  generation  liable  to 
dependency."  (Report  of  Committee  on  Unemployment,  New  York,  pp. 
147-151.)  In  1908  the  Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  in 
New  York  City  found  that  out  of  800  unpicked  applicants,  35.5%  had 
applied  because  of  loss  or  lack  of  work,  and  18%  had  applied  because  of  in- 
sufficient work  or  wages.  (Ibid.) 

II.  Assistance  for  the  Unemployed.  A  Central  Labor  Exchange  such 
as  has  been  recommended  will  undoubtedly  improve  conditions  of  labor  in 
making  it  easier  for  the  workers  and  employers  to  come  in  contact;  but 
there  is  the  further  question,  with  which  this  committee  is  concerned,  What 
shall  be  done  for  those  persons  who  cannot  find  work  by  their  own  efforts 
or  through  the  efforts  of  a  Central  Labor  Exchange? 

At  the  present  time  workers  when  unemployed  have  recourse  to  one 
or  more  of  the  following  means  of  support:  Benefits  from  labor  unions, 
lodges,  etc.;  savings;  living  on  credit  or  borrowing;  appeal  to  charity  or- 
ganizations for  assistance.  These  means  are  not  satisfactory;  there  are 
only  a  few  labor  unions  or  lodges  or  similar  organizations  which  pay  any 
out-of-work  benefits.  It  is  desirable  to  secure  a  system  by  which  a  person 
when  unemployed  necessarily,  may  have  some  income  until  work  can  be  found; 
it  is  also  desirable  that  this  income  should  not  be  a  gift.  Unemployment 
is  one  of  the  risks  of  a  trade,  and  should  be  borne  by  the  trade,  or  by  the 
community  in  some  way.  There  are  two  general  plans  for  distributing  this 
burden: 

(1)  Relief  works  have  been  tried  extensively  in  European  countries,  and 
in   some   places   in    the    United    States.     The    European    experience    has    been 
on  the  whole  that  the  works  which  are  undertaken  by  the  city  or  state  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  employment  have  not  paid;   that  was  also  the  experi- 
ence in  Chicago  just  after  the  World's  Fair.     In  Kansas  City,  however,  there 
is  in  operation  such  a  system,  which  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare  reports  to 
be   successful. 

(2)  Insurance    against    unemployment    has    been    working    successfully 
in    Belgium   atid    Switzerland   and   in    some    German    cities;    it   has   just    been 
recently  started  in  certain  trades  in  England.     The  Committee  on  Standards 
of  Living  and  Labor,  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections, 
in  a   Platform   on   Social   Standards   for   Industry  prepared   by   the   chairman 
of   the   committee,   describes   the    Ghent   system   of   insurance   against   unem- 
ployment  as    follows:     "Underlying   principle:     help    in    proportion    to    self- 
help;    i.    e.,    if    worker    himself    provides    against    unemployment,    by    joining 
an  association  granting  out-of-work  benefits  to  members;  or  by  placing  funds 
in  a  bank,  he  may  upon  unemployment  receive  from  city  committee  a  grant 
of  money  in  direct  proportion  to  amount  received  from  association  or  drawn 
from  bank Subsidy  paid  only  in  case  of  involuntary  unemployment,  in- 
cluding fire  and  breakdown  of  machinery;   not  including  unemployment  due 
to  strikes,  lock-outs,   sickness  or  other  physical   incapacity.      Payment   made 
through   affiliated   associations  wherever  possible.      Committee   works    in    co- 
operation with  municipal  labor  exchange.     Workmen  claiming  grants  required 
to  register  at  exchange,  and  are  bound  to  accept  suitable  work  offered,  on 
pain    of   forfeiting   grant.     Daily   registration — now    required   by   many   trade 
unions — will   probably   be   required   in   near   future.     Adult   men   and   women 
are  treated  on  same  basis;   children  receive  a  smaller  rate;   present  number 
of  members  insured  is  20,000.     'The  existence  of  the  scheme  has  had  a  most 

important  effect  on  the  unions They  have  come  to  look  upon  themselves 

not  simply  as  armies  drilled  to  make  war  on  employers,  but  as  instruments 
of  general   social  organization  and  progress,   fulfilling  most   important   func- 
tions  in   the   commonwealth,   even    apart   from   their   functions   as    protectors 
of   the  workman  against   the   employer.'     Gibbon,    I.    G.,   Unemployment    In- 
surance,  p.   89." 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 83 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Inasmuch  as  your  committee  has  found  that  unemployment  is  the  most 
prevalent  cause  of  distress,  as  it  presents  itself  to  the  charity  organizations 
of  Chicago — the  exact  percentage  of  the  distress  due  to  unemployment  vary- 
ing in  different  organizations  from  about  15%  to  100% — and  inasmuch  as 
the  present  methods  of  providing  for  ourselves  when  we  are  unable  to  secure 
employment  are  unorganized,  and  inasmuch  as  the  platform  prepared  by  the 
Committee  on  Social  Standards  for  Industry  has  stated  that  "unemployment 
of  able-bodied  adult  men  under  65  years  of  age  is  abnormal  and  wasteful, 
and  is  as  proper  a  subject  for  recognition  by  the  public  authorities  as  con- 
tagious disease,  or  other  abnormal  conditions  which  menace  the  public  well 
being;  the  demand  for  insurance  against  unemployment  increases  with  the 
increasing  specialization  in  industry"  (p.  41),  and  inasmuch  as  many  per- 
sons are  turned  out  from  the  County  Hospital  before  they  are  able  to 
work,  therefore  your  committee  recommends: 

1.  The  establishment  of  a  state  insurance  against  unemployment  based 
on  the  Ghent  system. 

2.  That   the    Governor   and    Legislature   be   requested   at   the   next    ses- 
sion of  the   Legislature  to  pass  laws   providing  for   such  a   system. 

3.  The  establishment  by  the   County  of  a  convalescent  hospital  where 
persons   dismissed   from   the    County   Hospital    may   be   kept   until    they   are 
able  to  work. 

BUREAUS  OF  EMPLOYMENT  IN  EUROPE. 

By    C.    R.    Henderson,    Read    Before   the    American    Association    of    Public 
Employment  Agencies,  Dec.  18,  1913. 

Fortunately  we  have  a  recently  published  report  which  gives  us  all  the  facts 
which  it  is  possible  to  gather  on  our  subject  (1),  and  I  have  used  it  freely  in  this 
paper. 

(1)  Bulletin  Trimestriel  de  1'Association  internationale  pour  la  lutte  centre 
Chomage,  July-Sep.,  1913. 

Two  eminent  statisticians  of  the  German  Empire,  Dr.  Freund  and  Dr.  Zacher, 
were  appointed  in  1912  to  gather  from  all  nations  the  statistics  of  the  bureaus  of 
unemployment,  in  accordance  with  a  previous  resolution  taken  in  1910.  No  more 
reliable  authorities  could  be  selected.  A  schedule  was  sent  to  be  filled  out  and 
explanations  and  recommendations  were  solicited.  Fifteen  countries  sent  re- 
plies. Drs.  Freund  and  Zacher  arranged  the  tables  and  summarized  the  results. 

Their  first  conclusion  was :  "The  actual  position  as  regards  employment 
bureaus  is  almost  everywhere  unsatisfactory.  The  scattered  nature  of  the  organ- 
izations and  the  diversity  of  the  methods  of  administration  make  it  impossible  to 
obtain  a  clear  general  view  of  the  situation  on  the  labor  market  at  a  given  moment, 
to  determine  with  certainty  the  number  of  workers  available  and  the  number  of 
vacant  places,  to  establish  a  rational  equilibrium  between  supply  and  demand,  to 
draw  up  useful  statistics  of  the  labor  market,  and  to  take  preventive  measures  in 
time  against  unemployment." 

It  is  desirable  that  this  expert  judgment,  since  it  includes  the  United  States, 
should  be  known  here  and  that  we  should  try  to  understand  how  serious  the  situ- 
ation is.  We  can  never  make  progress  while  we  choose  to  live  in  a  fools'  paradise 
and  shut  our  eyes  to  disagreeable  truth.  All  that  we  can  do  is  mere  patchwork 
and  quackery  until  we  have  a  scientific  foundation  in  knowledge  and  the  organiza- 
tions for  obtaining  knowledge  of  facts. 

The  International  Committee  declares  that  this  "survey  reveals  a  multiplicity 
of  forms,  a  splitting  up  into  fragments,  and  huge  gaps  in  the  methods  of  employ- 
ment agencies  which  actually  amounts  to  anarchy.  The  only  exception  is  England, 
which  is  the  only  nation  which  can  show  a  network  of  employment  agencies  over 
the  whole  economic  field  which  is  unified  and  regulated  by  law.  But  even  the 
English  report  gives  no  information  whether  and  in  how  far  there  are,  in  addition 
to  the  state  officers,  other  employment  offices,  especially  those  of  employers  or 
of  employes;  whether  for  the  total  number  of  the  wage  earners  (14  millions),  of 
whom  the  state  offices  served  only  500,000,  these  are  agencies ;  and  whether  and 


84  REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

how  far  the  state  organization  is  gradually  drawing  in  the  other  offices  and  estab- 
lishing a  monopoly."  This  seems  from  some  figures  given  to  be  the  tendency,  but 
the  time  of  operation  is  still  too  short  for  assured  judgment. 

A  distinguished  and  honored  citizen  of  our  country  has  recently  published  an 
article,  which  has  been  widely  quoted  in  the  newspapers,  in  which  he  held  up  the 
German  system  as  a  model  of  unified,  interlocking,  systematic  provisions  for  secur- 
ing employment.  No  doubt  some  of  these  offices  are  doing  excellent  work;  but 
this  German  report  is  far  from  optimistic.  The  statistics  and  descriptions  show 
that  the  organization  of  the  labor  market  in  Germany  is  very  imperfect.  "The  two 
essential  principles  of  a  rational  system  of  labor  exchanges — neutrality  and  central- 
ization— are  far  from  being  realized.  The  principle  of  neutrality  is  broken  down 
particularly  by  the  employment  bureaus  of  interested  parties  such  as  employers 
and  employes.  On  the  other  hand,  the  labor  exchanges  are  not  centralized  accord- 
ing to  localities  or  trades,  nor  even  interlocally.  Interlocal  centralization  is  equally 
a  vital  necessity  in  enabling  the  labor  exchange  to  fulfill  its  essential  work  of 
maintaining,  on  the  largest  possible  scale,  the  balance  between  the  supply  of,  and 
demand  for,  labor"  (pp.  689-690).  "The  first  attempt  in  the  way  of  interlocal 
centralization  was  made  by  the  federations  of  public  labor  exchanges.  At  the 
present  time  these  exist  in  all  the  federated  states,  except  the  two  Mecklenburgs 
and  Bremen ;  in  addition,  all  the  provinces  of  Prussia  possess  them,  or  are  taking 
steps  for  their  organization.  But  for  the  success  of  their  work,  the  federations 
need  to  become  institutions  established  by  public  law.  Lacking  this,  they  are 
dependent  on  the  good  will  of  local  authorities,  having  neither  the  power  to  create, 
nor  the  right  to  inspect  employment  bureaus,  profit-making  or  otherwise.  Finally, 
from  the  financial  point  of  view,  they  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  State  and  the  Com- 
munes, whose  subventions  can  always  be  stopped. 

"Besides  the  reform  which  aims  at  equipping  the  federations  with  the  neces- 
sary legal  powers  there  should  be  created  for  the  whole  Empire  a  central  organ- 
ization to  be  entrusted,  as  a  beginning,  with  the  task  of  unifying  at  least  the  labor 
exchange  statistics." 

This  must  be  taken  as  an  official  and  authoritative  statement  of  the  situation 
in  Germanv. 

FRANCE. 

The  situation  in  France  is  set  forth  in  the  statement  of  these  facts  furnished 
to  the  International  Association : 

The  gratuitous,  semi-philanthropic  exchanges  are  not  growing  in  usefulness. 
The  bureaus  maintained  by  employers  filled  324,000  places  out  of  a  total  of  812.000 
in  1911;  the  public  free  bureaus  filled  fewer  than  100,000  places.  About  two-thirds 
of  this  work  was  done  in  Paris  alone,  chiefly  for  workers  in  the  provision  trades, 
domestic  service  and  hairdressing. 

The  profit-making  bureaus  filled  259,129  places ;  239,884  of  which  were  filled 
by  domestic  servants.  The  law  of  1904,  which  was  designed  to  suppress  these 
profit-making  offices,  evidently  failed  of  its  purpose,  since  of  709  such  exchanges 
existing  in  1911,  235  have  been  created  since  March  14.  1904.  Until  good  public 
exchanges  are  established  these  costly  and  dangerous  offices  will  be  able  to  exist 
in  spite  of  adverse  legislation. 

But  in  France  the  half-measures  of  the  public  have  made  little  progress.  The 
State  set  apart  in  its  budget  35,000  francs  to  subsidize  satisfactory  municipal 
employment  bureaus  under  joint  management  of  employers  and  employes.  Yet 
out  of  nearly  200  towns  where  bureaus  nominally  exist,  there  have  been  scarcely 
20  which  met  the  conditions  of  receiving  the  subsidy  of  government. 

Various  propositions  have  been  made,  but  nothing  satisfactory  and  adequate 
has  been  done  by  the  supreme  legislature. 

AUSTRIA. 

(P.  696.)  In  Austria  the  public  employment  bureaus  take  various  forms,  there 
being  no  Imperial  law  to  regulate  them  on  uniform  principles.  Bohemia  and 
Galicia  have  regulated  employment  bureaus  by  legislation  in  those  crown  lands,  in 
1903  and  1904.  Little  has  been  done  to  encourage  public  employment  bureaus  by 
subsidies. 

Public  employment  bureaus  due  to  private  initiative  exist  in  all  the  provinces, 
except  Dalmatia  and  Carinthia.  All  these  institutions  are  linked,  very  loosely  and 
inefficiently,  by  the  Imperial  Federation  founded  in  1906. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  85 

Side  by  side  with  these  public  institutions,  there  are  in  Austria  bureaus  organ- 
ized by  corporations,  employers'  associations,  workmen's  trade  unions,  charitable, 
religious,  racial  and  economic  societies,  and  profit-making  employment  bureaus. 
The  public  bodies  play  the  most  important  part.  About  one-half  their  operations 
deal  with  domestic  servants,  and  more  than  40  per  cent  deal  with  workers  both  in 
industry  and  in  handicraft.  The  charitable  bureaus  deal  principally  with  domestic 
servants ;  the  profit-making  bureaus  find  situations  in  about  an  equal  proportion 
for  servants  and  other  wage-earners,  particularly  in  the  catering  trade.  The  find- 
ing of  places  in  agriculture  is  supported  principally  by  the  public  bureaus.  In 
1911  the  Agricultural  Society  at  Vienna  created  a  Central  Employment  Bureau 
for  agriculture,  in  order  to  supply  laborers  to  the  Alpine  regions.  For  some  time 
this  office  has  also  undertaken  to  place  laborers  in  their  agricultural  regions. 

The  most  important  exchanges  are  those  of  Vienna  and  of  Bohemian  cities. 

The  attitude  of  trade  unions  toward  public  exchanges  in  Austria  has  changed 
from  time  to  time ;  actually  organized  workers  apply  in  large  numbers  to  the  public 
officers. 

Hungary  has  no  system  based  on  the  principles  of  neutrality  and  centralization. 
Three  important  exchanges  are  conducted  by  public  officials  and  representatives 
of  employers.  Subsidies  are  paid  by  the  state,  by  the  cities  and  by  employers. 

BELGIUM. 

Employers  have  one  exchange,  established  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
Some  of  the  trade  unions  try  to  place  their  members  in  situations,  but  their  statis- 
tics are  imperfect.  A  few  offices  are  maintained  by  associations  for  providing 
workmen's  dwellings.  Philanthropic  societies  have  a  certain  number  of  bureaus. 
Many  efforts  have  been  made,  with  some  success,  to  establish  exchanges  in  the 
management  of  which  employers  and  employes  are  represented. 

DENMARK. 

The  employment  bureaus  of  the  employers  are  few  and  relatively  unimportant. 
Those  organized  by  the  wage  earners  number  21,  with  73,235  members ;  their  cent- 
ral office  has  not  yet  become  very  effective.  The  city  of  Copenhagen  has  a  local 
exchange  supported  by  the  municipality  and  governed  by  a  committee  which  rep- 
resents employers  and  employes.  In  April,  1913,  the  Legislature  enacted  a  law  in 
regard  to  labor  exchanges  which  provides  for  the  regulation  of  local  public 
exchanges  and  a  central  office  at  the  capital.  The  bureaus  are  to  be  governed  by 
a  committee  of  at  least  seven  members  elected  by  the  Municipal  Council  or  similar 
body,  with  equal  representation  of  employers  and  employed ;  the  chairman  must 
be  independent  of  both  sides.  The  central  office  is  a  branch  of  government.  The 
services  of  placement  are  gratuitous.  Cost  of  transportation  will  be  met  by  the 
exchanges.  The  local  bureaus  are  required  to  co-operate  with  the  others  through 
the  central  office. 

Local  bureaus  are  supported  by  the  public  funds  of  the  municipalities  served, 
with  a  subsidy  of  one-third  the  expenses  from  the  State. 

ITALY. 

There  is  only  one  bureau  maintained  by  employers.  The  exchanges  of  the 
employes  are  maintained  by  labor  officers,  national  trade  unions,  isolated  leagues, 
organizations  of  agricultural  laborers.  There  are  a  few  not  very  important  mixed 
exchanges,  maintained  by  employers  and  employes,  chiefly  for  bakers  and  hotel 
waiters. 

There  is  only  one  municipal  exchange.  The  State  has  only  exchanges  for 
sailors  at  the  ports. 

The  famous  Societd  Umaritaria  at  Milan  has  done  some  effective  work  on  a 
small  scale. 

Italy  has  little  to  teach  or  encourage  us  on  this  point,  according  to  the  report 
of  their  committee. 

SWITZERLAND. 

Eighty-five  bureaus  replied  to  the  question  list;  24  are  under  joint  manage- 
ment of  employers  and  employed;  43  are  affiliated  to  a  federation,  and  14  of  this 
number  to  a  federation  which  maintains  exchange  of  information  with  states  out- 
side Switzerland.  Thirteen  bureaus  ignore  trade  disputes ;  20  notify  both  parties 


86 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

of  the  existence  of  a  dispute  and  continue  to  work ;  23  bureaus  take  part  in  dis- 
putes by  boycotting  one  of  the  two  parties.  Nineteen  bureaus  are  connected  with 
unemployment  relief  funds.  The  Swiss  Union  of  Labor  Offices,  created  about  10 
years  ago,  comprises  15  public  exchanges,  with  headquarters  at  Zurich ;  and  the 
public  exchange  is  gradually  showing  its  superiority  to  those  privately  conducted 
in  the  interest  of  a  party.  The  organization  in  Switzerland  is  worth  study. 

GREAT  BRITAIN. 

The  most  complete  system  yet  constructed  is  that  of  Great  Britain,  which 
began  its  activity  February,  1910,  under  the  "Labor  Exchange  Act"  of  1909.  This 
law  has  few  sections  and  merely  gives  the  Board  of  Trade  power  to  establish  or 
take  over  Labor  Exchanges,  to  assist  Labor  Exchanges  maintained  by  other 
authorities,  to  collect  and  furnish  information  as  to  employers  requiring  work- 
people and  workpeople  seeking  employment,  to  establish  Advisory  Committees  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  the  Board  of  Trade  advice  and  assistance,  and  to  make 
regulations  as  to  the  management  of  Labor  Exchanges  with  special  reference  to 
the  question  of  advancing  fares  as  a  loan  to  workmen  proceeding  to  employment. 

The  United  Kingdom  was  divided  into  divisions,  for  convenience  in  adminis- 
tration, with  an  office  for  each  division,  and  all  being  connected  with  the  central 
office  in  London.  There  are  8  divisions,  with  430  exchanges.  These  exchanges 
are  also  organs  of  the  new  Unemployment  Insurance,  in  which  policy  Great  Britain 
boldly  leads  the  world. 

Women  are  dealt  with  so  far  as  possible  by  women  officers,  and  a  special  staff 
takes  care  of  juveniles.  The  buildings  used  provide  for  classification:  insurable 
and  uninsurable,  artisans  and  laborers,  women,  girls,  boys  having  separate  accom- 
modations when  desirable. 

Applicants  for  situations  fill  in  suitable  forms,  which  are  indexed,  and  they 
are  notified  when  places  are  found  for  which  they  are  adapted.  Applications  for 
workpeople  are  received  by  telephone,  telegram,  letter,  or  personal  call. 

"The  duty  of  the  manager  of  the  exchange  is  first  of  all  to  endeavor  to  fill 
such  vacancies  as  may  be  notified  to  him  from  his  current  or  live  register.  Should 
however,  he  be  unable  to  do  so,  he  communicates  by  means  of  special  forms  or 
cards  with  the  Divisional  Center  to  which  that  exchange  is  attached,  which  in  its 
turn  circulates  the  unfilled  vacancies  notified  from  the  various  exchanges  under 
its  control  to  the  other  exchanges  in  its  district  where  applicants  of  the  class 
required  are  likely  to  be  found.  Should  it  not  be  possible  to  fill  the  vacancv 
within  the  division  the  Divisional  Office  circulates  it  to  the  other  divisions,  where 
a  similar  procedure  is  followed.  Thus  an  application  for  employment  or  a 
vacancy  notified  entirely  loses  its  local  character  and  becomes  available  throughout 
the  whole  country." 

In  case  of  strike  or  lockout  the  association  of  employers  or  workmen  may 
give  a  confidential  notice  of  the  fact  to  the  exchange,  and  applicants  are  notified 
of  the  dispute  and  act  accordingly.  This  procedure,  it  is  claimed,  has  been  satis- 
factory to  both  sides. 

It  is  cruel  mockery  to  offer  a  man  a  job  at  a  distance  when  his  shoe  soles 
are  already  worn  out,  his  stomach  growling  for  food,  his  energy  depleted  bv 
starvation,  and  his  pocketbook  long  since  empty.  An  essential  feature  of  the  English 
system  is  the  provision  for  advancing  railway  fare  to  the  place  where  work  is 
found.  In  the  year  1912,  96,189  persons  took  advantage  of  this  measure,  12.3 
per  cent  of  all  vacancies  filled.  Of  the  sum  advanced  94.4  per  cent  was  repaid, 
and  all  but  a  trifle  (1.6  per  cent)  would  be  paid  in  time.  This  advantageous 
measure  is  subject  to  the  following  conditions: 

(1)  That  the  privilege  is  limited  to  workmen  for  whom  vacancies  have  been 
found  through  a  labor  exchange. 

(2)  That  the  advance  is  a  loan  and  in  no  way  a  gift  or  act  of  charity,  and 
that  it  must  be  repaid,  by  installments  if  necessary,  which  may  be  deducted  from 
the  workman's  wages  by  the  employer  in  convenient  amounts. 

(3)  That  fares  may  not  be  advanced   in  cases  of   workmen  proceeding  to 
vacancies  caused  by  a  trade  dispute  affecting  their  trade,  or  to  vacancies  where 
the  wages  offered  are  lower  than  those  current  in  the  trade  in  the  district  where 
the  employment  is  found. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 87 

CONCLUSIONS  FROM  THE  SURVEY. 

1.  The  necessity  of  establishing  a  central,  national  organization  is  generally 
recognized  by  expert  opinion ;  it  is  realized  only  in  Great  Britain. 

In  the  United  States  the  constitutional  limitations  upon  the  authority  of 
Congress  would  probably  make  the  British  system  impossible;  but  it  might  be 
possible  to  maintain  a  bureau  at  Washington  whose  function  would  be : 

(1)  To  collect  and  circulate  information  about  the  labor  market  in  all  the 
important  centers  of  the  Union ; 

(2)  To  extend  and  improve  the  present  facilities  for  guiding  and  pro- 
tecting immigrants  in  search  of  places  to  work ; 

(3)  To   secure   legislative   and   administrative   control   of   movements   of 
labor  between  the  states  and  in  interstate  commerce. 

2.  The  several  states  should  each  have  a  central  organization,  a  network  of 
free  employment  exchanges,  all  combined  in  a  co-operative  system,  and  equipped 
with  means  and  authority  for  effective  service. 

3.  The  municipalities  should  have  their  own  local  exchanges,  but  these  should 
be  under  control  and  direction  of  the  state  system,  with  such  local  functions  as 
would  adapt  them  to  peculiar  needs  of  communities. 

UNEMPLOYMENT  INSURANCE. 
By   C.   R.   Henderson,   Paper   Prepared  for  the  American  Association  for 

Labor   Legislation,  1913. 
I.    The  Necessity  of  Unemployment  Insurance. 

While  the  method  of  unemployment  insurance  is  yet  to  be  worked  out,  there 
is  general  agreement  that  the  subject  is  already  within  the  range  of  practical  pol- 
itics. No  one  acquainted  with  the  evils  to  workmen  and  to  society  which  arise 
from  involuntary  idleness  can  be  blind  to  the  need  of  prevention  and  indemnity ; 
no  one  who  has  studied  the  general  social  causes  of  unemployment  beyond  the 
control  of  individual  wage  earners  can  doubt  social  responsibility;  while  the  vast 
schemes  of  insurance  in  India  and  Great  Britain  compel  at  least  respectful  consid- 
eration of  the  magnificent  venture  of  our  Mother  Country.  We  can  already  begin 
to  discover  in  ragged  outline  the  presence  of  a  law  of  periodicity,  secularity,  reg- 
ular repetition  and  averages  of  great  numbers,  which  brings  the  phenomenon  of 
unemployment  within  the  range  of  actuarial  science,  although  we  are  not  yet  in 
sight  of  solution  of  all  the  problems.  Indeed,  we  must  even  risk  something  in 
practical  effort  before  we  can  furnish  statisticians  and  actuaries  with  facts  to 
count.  The  most  cunning  mathematician  must  wait  on  the  march  of  experiment 
for  the  raw  materials  of  his  calculations.  As  some  one  has  said,  we  cannot  wait 
for  evolution,  we  must  make  evolution,  as  Burbank  develops  new  varieties  of 
plants  by  trial. 

It  is  already  evident :  that  unemployment  is  a  regular  phenomenon  of  modern 
industry ;  that  each  trade  has  its  own  coefficient  of  enforced  idleness ;  that  the  risk 
may  be  measured,  foreseen  and  provided  for  on  actuarial  principles ;  that  such  a 
risk  which  falls  with  ruinous  flood  on  the  weakest  individuals  may  be  divided  into 
spray  and  not  seriously  felt  when  the  whole  nation  shares  the  responsibility ;  that 
it  is  socially  desirable  to  prevent  or  indemnify  unemployment,  so  as  to  avert  the 
economic  and  moral  destruction  of  working  people,  the  necessity  for  wholesale 
poor  relief,  and  the  desperation  which  mocks  social  order  when  life  is  not  worth 
the  effort  it  costs  to  sustain  it. 

The  assertion  is  that  unemployment  insurance  has  become  a  necessity,  that  is 
for  a  people  which  proposes  to  be  civilized.     It  is  a  moral,  not  a  physical,  neces- 
sity ;  we  cannot  retain  our  ethical  standards  and  refuse  to  face  our  task. 
II.     The  Statistical  Basis  for  Unemployment  Insurance. 

Thus  far  the  German  Empire  has  refused  to  launch  upon  this  untried  sea. 
The  explanations  given  in  that  country  point  to  a  disagreement  between  local  and 
federal  administration  as  to  which  should  bear  the  responsibility.  The  experts 
have  not  yet  come  together  on  this  point.  Another  explanation  of  the  delay  is 
that  even  after  an  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  whole  subject,  their  specialists 
do  not  feel  that  their  basis  of  fact  is  broad  enough  to  support  an  imperial  system. 
There  are  other  causes  of  delay,  but  the  necessity  of  having  actuarial  data  is 
fundamental. 


88  REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Mr.  Frank  B.  Sargent  has  summarized  for  us  the  results  of  a  study  of  the 
statistics  of  unemployment  in  the  United  States1 :  The  sources  of  statistics  used 
by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  are:  (1)  The  United  States  Census  reports.  (2)  A 
report  on  the  cost  of  living  contained  in  the  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Commissions  of  Labor.  (3)  Reports  of  unemployment  among  organized  work- 
men in  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  issued  by  the  department  of  labor  in  New 
York  and  the  bureau  of  statistics  in  Massachusetts.  (4)  Reports  of  unemploy- 
ment among  organized  workmen,  by  the  American  Federationist.  (5)  State 
census  of  the  unemployed  in  Rhode  Island  in  1908.  (6)  Reports  of  the  Geological 
Survey,  showing  the  days  of  enforced  idleness  in  coal  mines  in  the  United  States. 
The  report  analyzes  the  materials  presented  in  these  sources  and  estimates  their 
value.  It  shows  very  clearly  that  the  fluctuations  in  unemployment  cannot  be 
explained  on  the  exploded  theory  that  the  workmen  are  generally  indolent  shirks, 
that  they  are  as  a  rule  individually  to  blame.  The  chief  cause  of  unemployment 
is  that  at  times  which  regularly  recur  men  who  desire  to  work  cannot  find  gainful 
occupation.  It  is  not  true  that  an  industrious  man  in  America  can  always  find 
employment.  It  is  true  there  are  many  vagrants  and  tramps ;  but  they  do  not  in 
any  proper  sense  represent  the  rank  and  file  of  American  wage  earners. 

The  value  of  these  statistics  as  a  basis  for  actuarial  calculation  is  low.  There 
is  much  evidence  for  believing  that  an  essential  prerequisite  for  insurance  is  the 
effective  organization  of  a  national  labor  exchange  with  state  and  local  branches. 
It  will  probably  be  found  that  regulation  of  international  immigration  will  be 
necessary  before  we  can  be  sure  of  maintaining  solvent  insurance  funds.  Only 
federal  authority  is  wide  enough  and  strong  enough  to  provide  records  which  will 
represent  the  conditions  and  fluctuations  of  wage  earners  who  move  back  and 
forth  across  our  country,  as  lured  by  hope  of  employment,  without  the  least 
regard  for  municipal  and  state  lines.  It  may  even  be  found  necessary  to  apply 
federal  regulation  of  immigration  in  order  to  save  our  own  wage  earners  from 
the  disastrous  fluctuations  due  to  unregulated  floods  of  laborers. 

III.    Methods  of  Unemployment  Insurance. 

"The  essence  of  every  kind  of  insurance  is  that  it  guarantees  both  legal  and 
economic  security  of  income  in  case  of  accident.  The  legal  right  gives  the  insured 
a  claim  in  court  apart  from  benevolence  and  kindness.  Economic  security  assumes 
that  the  insurer  is  able  to  meet  the  risk,  and  this  implies  that  the  risk  is  calcu- 
lable." (Jastrow,  Sozialpolitik,  I.  249.) 

Mr.  I.  G.  Gibbon  in  1911  published  a  valuable  study  of  the  European  schemes 
and  experiments  which  presents  in  convenient  form  the  various  aspects  of  the 
subject*.  Mr.  Gibbon  groups  the  various  plans  under  three  main  heads  (Int. 
P.  IV)  : 

"Compulsory  insurance,  the  insurance  being  compulsory  on  certain  classes  of 
workers ; 

"Provided  voluntary  insurance,  the  insurance  being  provided  by  a  public 
authority  or  some  body  other  than  the  insured  persons — and  being  usually  open  to 
workers  in  general ; 

"Autonomous  voluntary  insurance,  the  insurance  being  organized  and  admin- 
istered by  the  insured  themselves,  each  insurance  association  being  generally 
restricted  to  persons  following  the  same  or  allied  trades." 

Mr.  Gibbon's  book  furnishes  adequate  information  about  the  various  European 
schemes  up  to  1911.  But  since  then  his  own  country  has  ventured  on  a  colossal 
plan. 

1.  The  most  complete  scheme  of  unemployment  insurance  is  the  "British 
National  Insurance  Act,  1911.  (Bui.  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  102,  July  15,  1912.) 
An  analysis  of  this  act  brings  us  to  the  present  frontier  of  our  subject. 

Section  84.     Right  of  workmen  in  insured  trades  to  unemployment  benefit. 

Every  workman  who,  having  been  employed  in  a  trade  mentioned  in  the  list, 
is  unemployed,  and  who  meets  certain  conditions,  shall  be  entitled  to  unemploy- 
ment benefits  at  rates  and  intervals  prescribed  in  the  law. 

The  list  (Sixth  Schedule)  of  trades  insured  includes:  Building,  construction 
of  works,  ship-building,  mechanical  engineering,  iron  founding,  construction  of 
vehicles  and  saw  milling. 

'"Statistics  of    Unemployment  and  the  Work  of    Employment  Offices."     Bulletin  109,  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Labor,  October  15,  1912. 

'Unemployment  Insurance,  London;   P.  S.  King  and  Son,  1911. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 89 

Section  85.    Contributions  by  workmen,  employers,  and  the  Treasury. 

The  contributions  are  fixed  at  5  cents  a  week  from  each  workman,  and  5  cents 
from  the  employer;  lower  rates  being  paid  for  young  persons  under  18  years 
of  age. 

These  contributions  are  legally  obligatory  in  the  trades  named. 

The  employer  pays  the  dues  of  workmen  and  deducts  the  amount  from  the 
wages. 

Parliament  provides  each  year  for  a  public  contribution  equal  to  one-third  of 
the  total  contributions  received  from  employers  and  workmen  during  that  year. 

Section  86.    Statutory  conditions  for  receipt  of  unemployment  benefit. 

1.  The  workman  must  prove  that  he  has  been  employed  as  a  workman  in  an 
insured  trade  in  each  of  not  less  than  26  separate  calendar  weeks  in  the  preceding 
five  years ; 

2.  That  he  has  made  application  for  unemployment  benefit  in  the  prescribed 
manner,  and  prove  that  since  the  date  of  the  application  he  has  been  continuously 
unemployed ; 

3.  That  he  is  capable  of  work  but  unable  to  obtain  suitable  employment ; 

4.  That  he  has  not  exhausted  his  right  to  unemployment  benefit  under  this 
part  of  this  act. 

The  workman  is  not  obliged  to  accept  work  in  a  place  vacant  by  reason  of  a 
trade  dispute,  nor  on  conditions  lower  than  rates  fixed  by  contracts  or  custom. 

Section  87.     Disqualification  for  unemployment  benefit. 

During  a  trade  dispute  the  workmen  on  strike  or  locked  out  have  no  unem- 
ployment benefit.  One  discharged  for  misconduct  receives  nothing  for  six  weeks. 

Section  88.  Determination  of  claims.  This  is  provided  for  by  the  decisions 
of  "insurance  officers"  and  referees. 

Section  89.  Appointment  of  umpire,  insurance  officers,  inspectors,  etc.  The 
umpire  may  be  appointed  by  the  Home  office  and  the  Board  of  Trade  can  fill  other 
offices  as  required. 

Section  90.    Courts  of  referees  are  provided  for. 

Section  91.    Regulations  may  be  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 

Section  92.  Unemployment  fund  is  under  the  control  and  management  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  and  out  of  this  benefits  are  paid.  A'  system  of  accounting 
is  provided. 

Section  93.  Treasury  advances.  Provision  is  made  for  temporary  increase  of 
dues  or  decrease  of  benefits  to  keep  the  fund  solvent. 

Section  94.  Refund  of  part  of  contributions  paid  by  employer  in  the  case  of 
workmen  continuously  employed. 

This  section  aims  to  encourage  employers  to  keep  their  works  running  by 
paying  back  one-third  of  their  contributions  in  case  they  have  employed  their 
force  the  whole  year. 

Section  95.     Repayment  of  part  of  contribution  by  workmen  in  certain  cases. 

If  a  workman  has  paid  contributions  500  weeks,  at  the  age  of  60  he  may  have 
repaid  him  the  amount  by  which  his  contributions  have  exceeded  his  benefits 
received. 

Section  96.  Refund  of  contributions  paid  in  respect  of  workmen  working 
short  time. 

Section  97.  Exceptions  for  occasional  employment  in  rural  neighborhoods. 
Exceptions  may  be  made  and  a  rural  worker  who  only  occasionally  works  in  an 
insured  trade  may  not  be  required  to  pay  contributions. 

Section  98.  Payment  of  contributions  in  case  of  reserves  or  territorials  during 
training. 

Section  99.  Provisions  with  respect  to  workmen  engaged  through  labor  ex- 
changes. Arrangements  are  made  for  treating  men  who  are  sent  out  to  various 
employers  at  different  periods  as  if  they  were  in  continuous  employment. 

Section  100.  Provisions  are  made  for  testing  the  skill  and  knowledge  of  a 
workman  supposed  to  be  defective,  and  to  provide  for  his  technical  instruction  if 
this  promises  to  diminish  the  charges  on  the  unemployment  fund. 

Section  101.     Offenses  and  proceedings  for  recovery  of  contributions,  etc. 

Section  102.  Periodical  revision  of  rates  of  contribution.  To  keep  the  fund 
solvent  and  to  reduce  cost  in  case  the  fund  is  too  large,  the  Board  of  Trade  is 
authorized  after  seven  years  to  increase  or  diminish  the  contributions — within  cer- 
tain limits. 


90  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

Section  103.  Power  to  extend  to  other  trades.  The  Board  of  Trade  is  legally 
authorized  to  extend  the  benefits  of  the  act  to  trades  not  mentioned  in  the  sched- 
ule— within  specified  limits. 

Section  104.  Exclusion  of  subsidiary  occupations.  The  Board  of  Trade  is 
authorized  to  exclude  occupations  which  are  auxiliary  to  the  trades  listed  but  not 
essentially  a  part  of  them. 

Section  105.  Arrangements  with  associations  of  workmen  in  insured  trades 
who  make  payments  to  members  whilst  unemployed. 

This  section  is  designed  to  encourage  benefit  societies  to  insure  their  mem- 
bers ;  in  lieu  of  paying  benefits  to  individual  members,  the  association  is  repaid 
up  to  34  of  the  amount  of  payments  made  during  the  period  by  the  association  to 
its  unemployed  members. 

Section  106.  Repayments  to  associations  who  make  payments  to  persons 
whether  workmen  in  insured  trade  or  not,  whilst  unemployed.  This  section  ex- 
tends to  state  and  to  other  forms  of  organization. 

Section  107.    Interpretation  and  application.     Definition  of  "workman." 

"Unemployment" :  Two  periods  of  unemployment  of  not  less  than  two  days 
each,  separated  by  a  period  of  not  more  than  two  days,  during  which  the  workman 
has  not  been  employed  for  more  than  24  hours  or  two  periods  of  unemployment 
of  not  less  than  one  week  each,  separated  by  an  interval  of  not  more  than  six 
weeks,  shall  be  treated  as  a  continuous  period  of  unemployment. 

GERMANY. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  German  Empire,  whose  leadership  in  social  insurance 
is  recognized  by  all,  has  not  yet  undertaken  to  organize  unemployment  insurance, 
this  is  not  because  their  workingmen  and  their  statesmen  are  indifferent  to  the 
problem.  The  huge  volumes  of  reports1  of  experts  reveal  the  vast  amount  of 
careful  and  expert  labor  which  has  been  given  to  the  subject.  The  chief  reasons 
for  hesitation  have  already  been  indicated. 

While  the  imperial  authorities  delay  the  cities  have  entered  the  field  of  experi- 
ment ;  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  governments  whose  territory  is  limited  to 
municipal  boundaries  are  strong  enough  to  control  the  situation.  Many  doubt  this 
policy,  even  in  Germany. 

Meantime,  we  may  study  the  results  of  an  inquiry  into  the  progress  of  the 
local  efforts. 

Recent  Progress  in  German   Cities.2 

1.  Agencies  exist  for  unemployment  insurance  as  follows : 

In  Berlin-Schoneberg,  1910;  subsidies  to  associations  and  to  those  who  have 
savings  accounts. 

Cologne  (1896,  transformed  in  1911),  voluntary  insurance  funds. 

Erlangen   (1909),  subsidies  to  associations  and  aid  to  the  unemployed. 

Freiburg  in  Baden  (1910),  subsidies  to  associations  and  to  those  having  sav- 
ings accounts. 

Schwabische  Municipality  (1911,  1912),  subsidies  to  associations  and  voluntary 
insurance  funds. 

Mannheim  (1911,  transformed  in  1913),  subsidies  to  associations  and  pure 
relief  to  the  workless. 

Miilhausen  i.  E.  (1909),  subsidies  to  associations. 

Strassburg  i.  E.  (1906,  1907),  subsidies  to  associations. 

Stuttgart  (1912),  subsidies  to  associations  and  those  having  savings  accounts. 

2.  In  the  following  cities  plans  have  been  studied  but  not  introduced :     Berlin, 
Cassel,  Colmar  i.  E.,  Dresden,  Diisseldorf,  Essen,  Emden,  Frankfort  a.  M.,  Gerben, 
Heidelberg,  Mayence,  Munich,  New  Cologne,  Neumiinster,  Nuremberg,  Pforzheim, 
Weissensee. 

3.  The  following  cities  have  rejected  proposals  for  insurance:     Berlin-Wit- 
mersdorf,   Braunschweig.  Danzic,   Dessau,  Elberfeld,  Halle  a.   S.,  Hamburg,   Hof, 
Kopernick,  Kulmbach,  Regensburg,   Spandau,  Wiesbaden,  Wiirzburg. 

4.  Failure  of  plans  is  reported  in  Augsburg,  Charlottenburg,  Duisburg,  Solin- 
gen. 


"Die  bestehenden  Einrichtungen  zur  Versicherung  gegen  die  Folgen  der  Arbeitslosigkeit,  etc.,  1906. 
"Reichs-Arbeitsblatt,  March,  1913,  p.  188.     Cf.  1910,  S.  38,  102.  278;  1911,  S.  38,  181. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 91 

IV.     Relation  of  Unemployment  Insurance  to  the  Prevention  of  Unemployment. 

1.  The  primary  interest  of  the  individual  workman  and  of  society  is  in  the 
prevention  of  accident,  disease,  premature  senility  or  invalidism,  death,  unemploy- 
ment. Before  all  questions  of  indemnity  for  evil  is  prevention  of  evil ;  and  a 
system  of  insurance,  to  meet  all  rational  requirements,  must  show  that  it  contains 
methods  of  reducing  the  loss.  This  principle  applies  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

The  means  of  diminishing  unemployment  have  been  fully  discussed  by  recent 
writers'.  It  is  here  taken  for  granted  that  we  are  working  for  the  vocational 
training  and  guidance  of  young  persons ;  that  we  have  a  policy  of  preventive 
medicine  which  will  reduce  the  amount  of  idleness  due  to  sickness ;  that  we  favor 
the  establishment  of  test  and  training  colonies  for  dealing  with  the  "unemploy- 
ables"  of  all  varieties,  and  that  we  urge  upon  railway  companies,  cities,  states  and 
the  federal  government  the  policy  of  spreading  their  contracts  over  a  long  term 
of  years,  so  as  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  the  deadly  alternating  currents  of  idle- 
ness and  excessive  strain  which  now  characterize  our  industries.  But  we  also 
may  insist  that  the  same  machinery  which  effectively  provides  insurance  should 
itself  automatically  and  with  certainty  reduce  some  of  the  preventable  causes  of 
unemployment.  This  we  can  consider  in  discussing  the  relation  between  well 
administered  labor  exchanges  and  unemployment  insurance. 

Other  forms  of  insurance  connect  indemnity  with  preventive  measures.  There 
are  mutual  fire  insurance  associations  where  the  members  are  required  to  have 
slow-burning  or  fire-proof  construction  in  their  buildings  and  to  provide  effective 
means  of  automatic  extinction  of  incipient  fires;  and  by  such  measures  the  pre- 
miums have  been  greatly  lowered.  Many  fire  insurance  companies  organize  salvage 
corps  by  which  the  municipal  departments  are  supplemented  and  the  loss  reduced ; 
and  the  cost  of  this  method  is  defended  on  the  ground  that  it  lowers  the  premiums 
of  insurance  enough  to  justify  the  expenditure.  In  the  German  systems  of  sick- 
ness, accident  and  invalid  insurance,  the  funds  are  heavily  drawn  upon  to  arrest 
the  advance  of  disease  and  secure  a  rapid  convalescence. 

.2.    The  modernized  labor  exchange  is  an  essential  factor  in  any  sound  unem- 
ployment insurance  scheme.     On  this  principle  all  authorities  agree. 

Without  a  thorough  test  through  a  good  agency,  the  risk  could  not  be  calcu- 
lated. If  the  insured  may  become  voluntarily  unemployed  in  order  to  enjoy  the 
indemnities,  an  element  of  uncertainty  would  be  introduced  which  might  vitiate  all 
actuarial  estimates.  No  human  wisdom  is  keen  enough  to  discriminate  between 
voluntary  and  involuntary  unemployment  by  any  external  sign ;  and  the  unsup- 
ported claim  of  the  applicant  is  not  a  substantial  ground  for  judgment.  The  labor 
exchange  alone  can  offer  even  a  rough  working  test  of  sincerity.  One  of  two 
situations  is  before  a  labor  exchange  which  is  complete  and  adequate :  either  the 
applicant  is  offered  work  or  it  can  be  known  that  there  is  no  demand  for  him. 
Even  the  best  labor  exchange  cannot  furnish  occupation  when  no  employer  is 
seeking  labor  force,  but  the  well  equipped  employment  office  can  very  generally 
offer  a  place.  If  work  is  refused  by  the  applicant,  his  indemnity  can  be  refused, 
and  the  insurance  fund  is  protected.  No  further  compulsion  is  necessary. 

A  well  conducted  labor  exchange  actually  reduces  the  risk  of  unemployment 
and  hence  tends  to  lower  the  cost  of  insurance  and  strengthen  the  stability  of  the 
fund. 

When  both  employers  and  employes  contribute  to  an  insurance  fund,  they 
will  be  prompted  by  self-interest  to  improve  their  labor  exchange  and  to  use  it. 

This  implies  that  the  labor  exchange  must  be  national,  non-partisan,  lifted 
above  the  talons  of  party  politicians,  placed  under  the  aegis  of  the  merit  system, 
administered  by  trained  experts,  and  so  honest  and  impartial  as  to  command  the 
confidence  of  the  wage-earners,  the  employers  and  the  general  public. 

V.  The  Trade  Union  as  the  Nucleus  of  Unemployment  Insurance. 

In  all  countries  with  advanced  industrial  development,  at  least  some  of  the 
trade  unions  have  made  experiments  with  unemployment  insurance.  In  our  coun- 
try this  is  practically  the  only  approach  to  unemployment  insurance.  This  is  so 
far  true  that  many  students  regard  the  trade  union  as  the  best  organization 
through  which  to  work. 

The  union  is  organized  for  collective  bargaining,  especially  for  the  advance- 
ment of  wages,  and  it  has  a  direct  and  constant  interest  in  preventing  the  com- 
petition of  large  numbers  of  unemployed  workmen  who  are  naturally  eager  to 

'\V.  H.  Beveridge:  Unemployment  (1910);  S.  and  B.  Webb:  The  Prevention  of  Destitution  (1911): 
B.  S.  Rowntree  and  B.  Lasker:  Unemployment  (1911). 


92 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

accept  employment  on  almost  any  terms  they  can  make.  Outside  of  their  strike 
funds,  some  of  the  unions  have  out-of-work  and  traveling  benefits  which  are 
practically  unemployment  insurance  funds.  These  funds  become  genuine  insurance 
only  when  they  are  legally  a  right  of  the  members  and  when  the  fund  is  solvent. 

The  difficulty  is  at  present  that  few  of  the  unions  can  meet  these  two  condi- 
tions, and  that  multitudes  of  workmen  are  altogether  outside  the  benefits  of  the 
trade  organizations.  The  dues  which  could  be  paid  by  the  unskilled  laborers 
would  necessarily  be  too  low  to  provide  a  solvent  fund. 

A  further  limitation  is  that  since  unemployment  is  caused  by  general  condi- 
tions, and  the  evil  of  idleness  is  not  confined  to  the  wage-earners  directly  in- 
volved, it  is  both  unfair  and  impolitic  to  impose  the  whole  cost  of  unemployment 
insurance  on  the  workmen  even  if  their  wages  might  possibly  furnish  adequate 
premiums.  All  recent  social  insurance  is  based  on  the  principle  of  distribution  of 
these  inevitable  losses  over  the  whole  nation,  through  public  contributions  to  the 
funds. 

It  is  evident  that  employers  cannot  be  asked  to  contribute  to  a  fund  which 
can  be  used  to  support  strikes,  any  more  than  workmen  could  be  asked  to  create 
a  fund  for  indemnifying  the  employer  who  locks  them  out  or  suffers  by  their 
strike. 

Some  writers  conclude  from  this  situation  that  a  public  insurance  fund  must 
exclude  trade  unions.  But  is  there  not  a  safe  alternative?  May  it  not  be  arranged 
that  public  insurance  indemnities  shall  be  refused  to  men  who  are  out  on  strike 
or  lockout;  that  trade  disputes  shall  not  complicate  the  problem  of  insurance? 

The  first  trade  union  which  in  Germany  undertook  unemployment  aid  was  the 
union  of  typesetters,  founded  in  1866.  In  1875  it  introduced  aid  for  traveling 
members  in  search  of  occupation.  The  Hirsch-Duncker  union  discussed  a  plan 
in  1879. 

VI.    The  Direction  of  Effort  and  Outlook. 

We  are  in  the  habit  now  of  asking  ourselves  very  little  about  the  summum 
bonum,  paradise,  the  "Ultimate  Ideal"  or  "Golden  Age,"  but  rather  what  is  the 
next  step.  Experiment  alone  will  open  the  way ;  our  headlight  reveals  only  a  few 
rods  of  track  in  front  of  our  eyes.  We  shall  be  wise  to  move  forward  by  that 
headlight  and  not  pay  too  much  attention  to  the  red,  green  or  blue  light  at  the 
tail  of  our  train. 

We  can,  at  least,  unite  on  improved  labor  exchanges.  Our  present  employ- 
ment bureaus,  public  and  private,  while  they  represent  mental  confusion,  waste, 
discouragement,  are  a  huge  tax  on  employers  and  employes.  They  compete  with 
each  other  and  their  conflicts  defeat  their  social  end.  Here  is  a  task  for  our  new 
Department  of  Labor;  may  it  be  granted  the  power  to  accomplish  something  and 
its  directors  have  the  will  and  wisdom  to  put  forth  an  effort  worthy  of  a  great 
industrial  nation ! 

Would  it  be  possible  to  secure  subsidies  to  trades  unions  and  mutual  benefit 
societies  to  encourage  them  to  carry  unemployment  insurance?  This  plan  has  a 
limited  success  in  Belgium.  Would  it  succeed  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States? 
Unless  some  provision  was  made  at  the  same  time  for  working  people  outside  trade 
unions,  such  a  use  of  public  funds  would  be  manifestly  unfair,  perhaps  unconsti- 
tutional. Is  there  any  present  evidence  for  believing  that  employers  would  wel- 
come and  further  a  measure  which  would  strengthen  trade  unionism?  The  oppo- 
sition of  employers  would  present  a  very  serious  obstacle  to  this  course. 

Would  it  not  be  more  fair,  more  full  of  promise  for  results  within  a  reason- 
able time,  if  all  those  who  realize  the  monstrous  injustice  of  neglect  should 
unite  on  a  policy  resembling  in  its  main  principles  the  British  System? 
Would  it  not  be  actually  easier  to  secure  a  great  measure  for  a  great  need,  in  a 
great  country,  than  a  measure  which  must  be  confessed  inadequate,  petty  and 
weak  from  the  first  moment  of  discussion? 

These  are  questions  to  which  satisfactory  answers  cannot  yet  be  given. 

Probably  we  shall  blunder  on  in  the  good  old  Anglo-Saxon  way,  try  experi-^ 
ments  on  a  small  scale  and  keep  the  people  thinking  until  some  day  the  clouds  lift 
and  the  lawyers  and  judges  find  that  after  all  a  measure  required  by  the  national 
welfare  has  all  the  time  been  lurking  concealed  in  the  cryptic  oracles  of  the  fine 
old  Constitution,  even  if  our  infallible  and  respectable  ancestors  who  wrote  that 
instrument  never  dreamed  of  the  problem  as  even  a  remote  possibility.  "Legal 
fictions"  have  more  than  once  delivered  us  from  the  "dead  hand"  and  served 
almost  as  well  as  the  living  truth  itself,  but  not  so  well  as  truth  itself. 


UNEMPLOYED  AND  PUBLIC 
EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.      Introduction  .  '  r . -,-.       ...          •          •         >         •       .  •         97 

II.     The  Function  Assigned  to  the  Public  Employment  Agency  by 

its  Advocates         .         ...         .          .         .         .'      104 

III.  The  Actual  Functioning  of  Non-Public  Employment  Agencies 

in  the  United  States       .          .          .          .  .        .          .          .        109 

IV.  Functioning  of  Public  Employment  Agencies  in  the  United 

States .^       .        125 

V.      Possibilities  in  the  Functioning  of  Public  Employment  Agencies        159 

VI.     The  Assumed  Function  of  Public  Employment    Agencies   in 

Relation  to  General  Social  Problems      ....        167 

Bibliography  .         .         .         .         .         .         .          .         .          .174 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT  95 


CHAPTER  I. 


UNEMPLOYMENT  AND   PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT   AGENCIES. 
By  E.  H.   Sutherland. 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  the  modern  industrial  community  unemployment  is  a  continuous 
phenomenon.  It  is  found  even  when  industry  is  being  hampered  by  an  in- 
adequate labor  supply.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  person  unemployed  it 
is  obviously  the  result  chiefly  of  the  inability  to  find  employment  imme- 
diately after  dismissal  or  displacement  from  an  engagement,  and  may  be 
expected  to  recur  periodically  at  the  point  of  the  cessation  of  occupations 
or  at  irregular  intervals  at  the  point  of  disturbance  in  occupations.  Some 
workers  are  periodically  dismissed  at  the  end  of  the  active  seasons;  others 
are  employed  at  odd  jobs,  and  after  a  few  hours  or  a  few  days  become 
unemployed;  the  engagement  is  characteristically  permanent  only  in  those 
few  occupations  which,  because  of  the  greater  continuity  of  employment, 
have  been  called  regular.  In  addition  to  the  workers  who  are  dismissed 
at  the  end  of  their  engagements,  there  are  seasonal,  casual  and  regular 
workers  who  have  become  unemployed  at  times  when  they  have  been  dis- 
placed, either  temporarily  by  such  disturbances  in  their  occupations  as  acci- 
dents to  the  plant  or  lack  of  raw  materials,  or  for  longer  periods  by  crises 
or  depressions,  or  permanently  by  the  introduction  of  machinery  or  the 
decay  of  the  industry. 

Undoubtedly  the  least  efficient  are  selected  for  dismissal  or  displacement 
whenever  possible,  but  even  if  equal  efficiency  of  all  workers  were  assumed, 
there  would  still  be  seasonal  and  casual  occupations,  introduction  of  new 
machinery,  decay  of  industries,  depressions  and  accidents  to  the  plant;  con- 
sequently, if  other  conditions  remained  the  same,  there  would  still  be  unem- 
ployment. Equal  efficiency  of  the  workmen  would  not  prevent  the  fluctua- 
tions in  the  number  of  employes  required.  Efficiency  is  very  important  in 
the  determination  of  who  shall  be  dismissed,  but  the  condition  of  the  in- 
dustry is  the  important  factor  in  the  determination  of  how  many  shall  be 
dismissed.  This  becomes  very  apparent  from  a  consideration  of  the  co- 
efficients of  unemployment  in  different  occupations. 

Max  Lazard,  Le  coefficient  de  risque  professionnel  de  chomage 
d'apres  les  trois  derniers  recensements  franc,ais,  Journ.  de  Soc.  de 
Statistique  de  Paris,  53:7-30,  Jan.,  '12;  Max  Lazard,  Le  chomage  et  la 
profession;  New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911, 
Charts  IV  and  V.  The  complete  title  of  this  report,  to  which  for  the 
sake  of  brevity  reference  is  here  made  as  the  New  York  Commission 
on  Unemployment,  is  "Report  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York  by  the  Commission  to  Inquire  into  the  Question  of  Employers' 
Liability  and  Other  Matters.  Third  Report:  Unemployment  and  Lack 
of  Farm  Labor,  1911." 

In  order  to  center  the  attention  on  these  industrial  factors,  the  unem- 
ployed are  generally  defined  as  those  wage-earners  who  are  able  and  willing 
to  work,  but  who  cannot  find  work. 

This  definition  is  composed  of  three  concepts:  "Ability  to  work," 
"willingness  to  work"  and  "being  without  work."  These  are  vague 
concepts,  have  not  been  standardized  and  at  present  are  not  subject 
to  actual  measurement.  Any  person  other  than  a  complete  invalid  is 
able  to  do  some  work.  "Willingness  to  work"  is  always  dependent 
on  the  conditions  of  the  work  and  the  ideals  of  the  workman;  the 


96     REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

skilled  mechanic  frequently  refuses  to  work  as  a  common  laborer,  the 
trade  unionist  sometimes  refuses  to  work  in  an  open  shop,  or  the  prohi- 
bitionist in  a  saloon.  It  is  difficult,  also,  to  determine  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  "being  without  work";  for  instance,  how  should  a  workman 
who  is  on  the  books  of  a  firm  and  reports  for  work  each  day,  but  who 
secures  work  only  three  days  a  week,  be  classified?  The  determination 
of  "ability  to  work"  and  "willingness  to  work"  must  be  made  with 
reference  to  the  local  standards  and  conditions  of  employment,  while 
the  presence  of  the  worker  in  the  labor  market  is  the  best  criterion  of 
"being  without  work."  The  Imperial  Statistical  Office  of  Germany 
has  reported  that  the  real  difficulty  in  insuring  against  unemployment 
is  to  secure  a  simple  test  of  unemployment.  See,  Germany,  Statis- 
tisches  Amt,  Abteilung  fur  Arbeiterstatistik.  Die  bestehenden  Ein- 
richtungen  zur  Versicherung  gegen  die  Folgen  der  Arbeitslosigkeit. 
Berlin,  1906.  Teil  I,  p.  3.  The  most  thorough  discussion  of  the  defini- 
tion of  unemployment  is  by  A.  Griinspan.  Ueber  den  Begriff  der  Ar- 
beitslosigkeit, Soziale  Praxis  21:692-96,  Feb.  29,  '12. 

From  these  unemployed  persons  must  be  distinguished  the  unemployable, 
who,  on  account  of  old  age,  sickness,  laziness,  weak-mindedness  or  other 
personal  characteristics,  are  not  able  or  not  willing  to  work,  and  therefore 
have  ceased  temporarily  or  permanently  to  be  wage-earners. 

The  extent  of  unemployment  has  never  been  accurately  determined  in 
any  country; 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  27; 
Webb,  Public  Organization  of  the  Labour  Market,  p.  163;  Rowntree 
and  Lasker,  Unemployment,  p.  vii;  Sargent,  Bulletin  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Labor,  No.  109,  p.  6.  Rowntree  and  Lasker  have  .made  the  most  in- 
tensive study  of  unemployment  that  has  been  made  up  to  this  time, 
but  it  is  confined  to  one  city  and  to  the  unemployment  which  was 
found  on  one  day  of  the  year. 

This  failure  is  due  to  the  practical  difficulties  of  computing  the  number 
of  days  of  work  lost  by  each  employe;  but  even  if  the  enumeration  were  com- 
plete, the  total  or  the  average  of  the  days  lost  in  the  different  kinds  of  un- 
employment would  be  a  mixture  of  quantities  very  disparate  as  to  causes, 
effects  and  the  forms  of  control  which  are  needed. 

•Beveridge,   Unemployment,   p.   27. 

Crude  indications  of  the  extent  of  unemployment  in  the  United  States 
have  been  secured  by  a  number  of  periodical  and  special  investigations 

United  States  Census  Reports  of  1890  and  1900;  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Labor,  18th  Annual  Report,  1903;  United  States  Geological 
Survey;  American  Federationist,  1899-1909;  Massachusetts,  Census  Re- 
ports   of    1885    and    1895;    Massachusetts,    Labor    Bulletins,    1908-date; 
Massachusetts.  32d  Annual   Report  of  Statistics   of  Labor,   1901;   New 
York,    Bulletins    of  .Department    of    Labor,    1897-date;    Rhode    Island, 
Census   of   1908.     There   is   considerable   material,   also,   in   the   reports 
of  the  various  state  bureaus  of  labor  statistics.     The  best  recent  sum- 
mary of  the  statistics  of  unemployment  is  in  Sargent,  loc.  cit.  pp.  5-34; 
from  which  the  general  conclusion  has  been  drawn  that  there  are  at  all  times 
of  the  year  some  unemployed  persons  willing  and  able  to  work  even  when 
employers   are   in   need   of  help,   and   that   this   number   increases    greatly   in 
certain  seasons  and  in  years  of  depression.     The  New  York  Commission  on 
Unemployment  estimated  that  in  New  York  in  years  of  ordinary  prosperity 
3  per  cent  of  the  wage-earners  usually  employed  are  out  of  work,  that  in  the 
winter  months  this  increases  to  8  or  10  per  cent,  and  in  years  of  depression 
to  from  15  to  30  per  cent. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  27. 
It  is  not  possible  to  generalize  for  the  >entire  United  States  from  this  in- 
formation;  the   nearest   approach   to    equally  accurate   federal   statistics   is   to 
be  found  in  an  investigation,  conducted  in   1901  by  the  United  States   Com- 
missioner  of   Labor,   of  families    selected   from   thirty-three   states   according 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 97 

to  the  industrial  importance  of  the  states.  Here  it  was  found  that  of  24,402 
heads  of  families  with  wages  or  salaries  not  over  $1,200  a  year,  12,154  (49.8 
per 'cent)  were  unemployed  during  some  part  of  the  year,  and  that  their 
average  period  of  unemployment  was  9.43  weeks. 

United  States,  18th  Annual  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor, 
1903,  pp.  41-46.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  this  is  not  a  state- 
ment of  unemployment  as  defined  above,  but  includes  unemployment 
due  to  sickness,  old  age,  strikes,  etc. 

In  the  absence  of  accurate  statistics,  the  extent  of  unemployment  is  in- 
dicated crudely  by  the  report  that  of  the  many  complaints  made  by  work- 
ingmen  in  the  steel  industry,  none  were  so  frequently  repeated  or  so  strong- 
ly made  as  those  in  regard  to  the  irregularity  of  employment. 

United  States,  Report  on  the  Condition  of  Employment  in  the 
Iron  and  Steel  Industry,  1913.  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  21,  205. 

Moreover,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  statistically  whether  unemploy- 
ment has  increased  or  decreased  during  the  last  half  century,  foi  there  have 
been  no  statistics  that  could  be  used  for  comparative  purposes  previous  to 
1900  in  the  United  States. 

A  study  of  the  development  of  unemployment  has  been  made  on 
the  basis  of  English  statistics,  which  show  that  unemployment  de- 
creased slightly  in  England  from  1860  to  1885,  and  increased  slightly 
after  1885.  G.  H.  Wood,  Some  Statistics  Relating  to  Working  Class 
Progress  Since  1860,  Journal  of  the  Royal  Statistical  Society,  62:640- 
48,  '99. 

The  effects  of  unemployment  on  the  individual,  his  family  and  society 
in  general,  can  hardly  be  exaggerated.  Adequate  performance  of  social 
duties  presupposes  regularity  of  employment  and  to  the  problem  of  irregu- 
larity of  employment  almost  all  other  social  problems  are  intimately  related. 
But  the  psychosis  of  unemployment  is  not  conducive  to  the  performance 
of  what  are  ordinarily  known  as  social  duties.  Unemployment  is  a  shock  or 
crisis 

In  one  of  its  phases  unemployment  is  an  illustration  of  Huxley's 
statement  that  "the  sense  of  being  useless  in  the  world  is  the  greatest 
shock  the  human  system  can  receive."  Quoted  in  the  Survey  31:156, 
Nov.  8,  '13. 

and  is  a  point  at  which  the  accustomed  habits  and  standards  of  morality 
and  industry  prove  inadequate,  particularly  when  it  is  long  continued  or  fre- 
quently repeated  and  when  consequent  to  it  there  is  a  partial  or  total  failure 
of  the  means  of  support.  Consequently  the  unemployed  tend  to  have  a 
characteristic  mental  attitude  either  of  revolt  against  the  system  in  an  or- 
ganized or  an  unorganized  way,  or  of  cessation  of  effort  and  acceptation  of 
the  situation  in  a  helpless,  supine  fashion.  Many  of  the  revolutions  of  mod- 
ern times  would  have  been  impossible  except  for  the  unemployed;  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  the  motto  of  the  French  revolution  was  "The  Right  to  Work," 
that  the  unemployed  began  the  street  fights  in  the  revolution  of  1830,  that 
the  revolutions  of  1848  followed  immediately  a  world  crisis,  and  that  the 
Paris  Commune  of  1872  was  in  the  most  intimate  connection  with  unemploy- 
ment. The  undigested  and  radical  demands  made  in  1893  by  Coxey's  Army 
and  the  demonstration  of  the  unemployed  under  Morrison  I.  Swift  in  Boston 
in  1908  show  similarly  what  may  be  the  outcome  of  such  a  crisis. 

Massachusetts   Labor   Bulletin,   56:58-62,   Feb.,   '08. 

It  is  easy  for  the  unemployed  man  to  become  a  socialist  and  the  social- 
ist theory  expresses  this  revolt  against  unemployment.  When  the  revolt 
against  the  system  is  not  organized,  unemployment  may  simply  lower  the 
border  of  vagrancy,  theft  and  other  crimes; 

Alice  W.  Solenberger,  One  Thousand  Homeless  Men,  pp.  139-55. 
It   is   reported   that   in   the   great    industrial   centers   of    Germany   and    in    St. 
Petersburg   prostitution    increases   and   decreases    directly   as    the   amount   of 
unemployment. 


98 REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Blaschko,  Conference  internationale  de  Bruxelles,  Enquetes  1:676, 
Sturmer,  Die  Prostitution  in  Russland,  p.  76. 

These  divergent  habits  are  to  be  explained  not  by  the  absolute  impossibility 
of  existence  otherwise,  but  by  the  imputed  increase  in  adequacy  of  the  new 
methods  of  conduct,  due  both  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  old  methods  and 
to  the  stimulations  to  the  formation  of  new  habits. 

The  lodging  houses,  saloons  and  general  environment  of  the  home- 
less men,  as  Mrs.  Solenberger  has  pointed  out,  are  important  factors 
in  the  personal  deterioration  of  the  unemployed;  this  applies,  also, 
to  the  unemployed  who  are  not  homeless.  It  is  reported  that  one  of 
the  boys  in  the  gang  which  murdered  Guelzoe  in  Chicago  in  1912  had 
never  met  the  gang  until  in  an  out-of-work  period  five  days  before 
the  crime;  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  penitentiary  after  conviction  he 
wrote  his  mother:  "If  I  had  not  been  out  of  work  I  never  would' 
have  gotten  into  this  trouble."  Graham  Taylor,  Chicago  City  Club 
Bulletin,  5:53-54,  March  11,  '12. 

The  unemployed  may,  on  the  other  hand,  cease  to  struggle  against  the 
system,  and  accept  it  in  an  unenergetic,  helpless,  depressed  fashion;  at  first 
unable  by  repeated  efforts  to  secure  work,  they  come  to  refuse  work  when 
it  is  offered;  their  physical  fitness  for  work,  their  skill  and  habits  of  industry 
become  either  intermittent  or  entirely  lacking. 

United  States,  Report  on  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the   Iron 
and  Steel  Industry,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  380. 
and  they  drop  into  the  class  of  casual  laborers  or  unemployables. 

Solenberger,  op.  cit.  pp.  139-55;  Rowntree  and  Lasker,  op.  cit., 
94-137,  172-93. 

for  "nothing  degenerates  from  lack  of  use  faster  than  the  capacity  to  work." 
Unemployment  has,  also,  more  overt  effects  due  to  the  inability  to- 
secure  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  the  labor  of  the  breadwinner.  The 
standard  of  living  of  the  unemployed  and  those  dependent  upon  them  is 
lowered,  frequently  to  the  point  of  physical  suffering, 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  9. 
as  is  evident  from  the  applications  for  assistance  from  charity  organizations, 
bread-lines,  municipal  lodging  houses  and  similar  institutions,  for  some  of 
which  unemployment  is  the  sole  cause  of  existence,  for  others  the  most 
important  cause.  Unemployment  is  recorded  as  the  principal  cause  of  dis- 
tress in  the  New  York  Charity  Organization  Society  in  29  per  cent  of  its 
cases  in  the  fiscal  year  1908-09,  in  22.5  per  cent  of  its  cases  in  the  year  1904-5, 
and  in  the  Chicago  United  Charities  in  20  per  cent  of  its  cases  in  the  year 
1911-12. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  28; 
James  Mullenbach,  Chicago  City  Club  Bulletin,  5:49;  March  11,  '12. 
See,  also,  G.  Kleene,  The  Statistical  Study  of  Causes  of  Destitution, 
Pub.  of  American  Statistical  Association,  11:273-85,  Sept.,  '08,  for  a 
criticism  of  the  methods  of  comparing  the  causes  of  destitution  and 
a  chart  showing  the  relative  importance  of  unemployment  as  a  cause 
of  distress. 

The  shiftless  and  irrational  methods  of  expending  incomes,  to  which  in 
some  cases  this  distress  is  related,  may  be  attributed  in  part  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  make  plans  for  future  expenditures  because  of  the 
uncertainty  of  income  and  irregularity  of  employment. 

United  States,  Report  on  the  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the 
Iron  and  Steel  Industries,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  21,  205.  The  effect  of  unem- 
ployment on  the  family  budgets  in  York  is  shown  by  Rowntree  and 
Lasker,  op.  cit,  pp.  222-58. 

The  unemployment  of  the  m.en  forces  their  wives  and  children  into 
sweated  or  other  labor,  the  children  are  left  without  adequate  technical  or 
moral  training,  and  tend  to  develop  without  the  acquisition  of  skill,  to  enter 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT      99 

"blind-alley"   occupations,   and    finally   to   become   casual   laborers,   criminals 
or  vagrants. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  9; 
Rowntree  and  Lasker,  op.  cit.,  pp.  7-16. 

The  presence  of  the  unemployed  in  the  labor  market  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  determination  of  the  wages  of  those  who  are  employed.  More- 
over labor  is  a  perishable  commodity,  and  a  day's  unemployment  represents 
a  direct  loss  of  a  day's  labor;  in  this  way  millions  of  days  of  labor  are 
wasted  every  year  in  the  United  States.  In  short,  unemployment  is  of  very 
great  importance  because  of  the  direct  loss  of  labor  power  and  the  indirect 
loss  due  to  its  depreciation,  because  of  the  direct  physical  and  psychical 
suffering,  the  loss  from  crime  and  vagrancy,  the  investment  in  charitable 
and  correctional  institutions,  and  the  neglect  of  the  children  and  their  con- 
sequent inefficiency,  as  well  as  because  of  the  mental  attitudes  which  are 
found'  in  the  unemployed.  Therefore,  supreme  social  importance  must  be 
attributed  to  the  attempts  to  solve  the  problem  of  unemployment. 

In  the  past  there  has  been  a  variety  of  attitudes  toward  unemployment', 
in  the  American  colonies  the  unemployed  person  was  frequently  classed  as 
a  vagabond  and  was  subject  to  specified  penalties. 

See,  for  example,  Henning,  Virginia  Statutes-at-Large,  IV:208-09. 
Unemployment  has  very  generally  been  regarded  as  an  individual  mi? 
fortune,  which   should   be   treated   by   charity,   though   in   some   cases   public 
assistance  in  finding  employment  has  been  sufficient  to  disfranchise  the  rt-< 
cipients. 

In  England  until  1905  the  person  who  registered  at  the  public 
employment  exchange  was  disfranchised.  In  Massachusetts  any  per- 
son other  than  a  veteran  of  the  civil  war  who  receives  public  aid  is 
disfranchised.  This  seems  to  be  a  mixture  of  charity  and  punishment, 
which,  except  in  importance,  is  not  unlike  the  Virginia  Act  of  1755, 
which  ordered  that  a  workhouse  be  built  for  the  "unemployed  poor/' 
but  decreed  that  those  who  received  assistance  in  it  wear  colored 
badges.  Henning,  op.  cit.,  VI:75-78. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  in  1911  referred  to  unemployment  as  an  in- 
evitable and  desirable  restriction  on  the  cost  of  production. 

This  view  that  unemployment  is  necessary  in  order  to  regulate 
wages  and  population  is  the  classical  economic  doctrine.  See  J. 
Lipowski,  Die  Frage  der  Arbeitslosigkeit  in  der  klassischen  National- 
oekonomie,  Zeitschrif t  f iir  die  gesamte  Staatswissenschaft,  68 :583-657. 
Heft  4,  '12. 

And  it  has  been  recognized  as  a  source  of  danger  to  those  in  power, 
which  may,  however,  be  removed  by  sops.  Such  attitudes  have  expressed 
themselves  in  various  policies  of  the  state  or  of  particular  groups  or  insti- 
tutions within  the  state,  for  relieving  the  distress  of  the  unemployed  by 
gifts  of  money,  or,  in  an  unorganized  way,  for  finding  work  for  them.  Only 
recently,  however,  has  unemployment  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  problem 
of  the  industrial  organization.  This  is  because,  as  a  continuous  and  wide- 
spread condition  of  wage-earners,  it  is  essentially  modern.  Previous  to  the 
industrial  revolution  wars,  crop  failures,  extortionate  taxation  and  "Acts  of 
God"  frequently,  indeed,  caused  idleness  and  deprived  the  serfs,  slaves,  crafts- 
men, merchants  and  other  classes  of  the  population  of  their  opportunities 
to  make  a  living;  but  that  was  not  characteristically  an  unemployment  of 
wage-earners,  for  in  that  domestic  economy,  even  after  the  abolition  of 
serfdom  and  slavery,  wage-earning  did  not  become  extensive.  This  was  be- 
cause large-scale  production  had  no  advantage  over  small-scale  production, 
for  there  was  little  perceptible  difference  between  capitalistic  and  domestic 
methods  of  manufacturing,  the  same  tools  were  used  in  both  methods  and 
the  work  was  generally  carried  on  in  the  home,  though  there  were  a  few 
factories. 

W.   Sombart,   Der   moderne   Kapitalismus,   1:405. 


100 REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Production  was  for  the  sake  of  relatively  local  and  immediate  con- 
sumption, markets  were  small  and  frequently  intermittent,  and  there  was, 
therefore,  no  profitable  disposal  of  large  outputs.  In  fact,  a  system  which 
made  it  possible  for  the  workers  to  own  the  products  of  their  labor  was 
better  adapted  to  those  conditions  than  a  system  of  wages  for  making  prod- 
ucts for  an  employer.  In  so  far  as  a  wage-earning  class  had  developed,  it 
retained  a  close  contact  with  the  soil,  so  that  it  was  not  deprived  of  all 
means  of  livelihood  even  if  the  employment  ceased.  They  were  further 
safe-guarded  against  unemployment  by  customs  and  by  such  legislation  as 
the  requirements  that  employes  should  be  engaged  for  not  less  than  a  year, 

Cunningham,  Growth  of  English  Industry,  Modern,  Part  I,  p.  29. 
and   that   employers   should   bear  the  risks   of  loss  when   trade   was   cut   off 
rather  than   throw   their   employes   into   enforced   idleness, 

Cunningham,  op.  cit^  p.  295. 

and  by  the  official  opposition  to  and  restriction  of  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery. 

In  1623  James  prohibited  the  use  of  machines  for  making  needles, 
and  Charles  would  not  permit  the  use  of  brass  buckles  because  "those 
who  cast  the  brass  buckles  can  make  more  in  one  day  than  ten  of 
those  who  make  the  iron  buckles  can  do."  Ibid. 

Under  modern  conditions  unemployment  has  become  inherent  in  the 
industrial  system  as  a  result  of  the  machine  process  and,  consequent  to  that, 
the  factory  system  and  large-scale  production.  The  mechanical  inventions 
of  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  substitution  of  large 
power-driven  machinery  for  tools  and  human  labor  made  the  former  domestic 
methods  of  manufacture  unprofitable.  Consequently,  the  independent  labor 
used  previously  in  domestic  production  necessarily  became  dependent  on 
employers  for  the  means  and  opportunities  of  employment,  Substantially 
the  same  thing  occurred  in  transportation,  while  in  agriculture  the  machinery 
enabled  a  smaller  proportion  of  the  population  to  produce  the  necessary 
food  supplies  and  thus  released  a  larger  number  of  workers  for  manufactur- 
ing and  transportation,  thus  increasing  still  more  the  proportion  of  wage- 
earners  to  the  entire  population.  Not  only  was  this  class  which  was  subject 
to  the  modern  form  of  unemployment  greatly  increased  in  number,  but  be- 
cause of  the  changed  industrial  conditions  the  unemployment  became  a 
necessary  result  of  the  industrial  system  at  its  present  stage  of  development. 
The  machinery  made  possible  and  necessary  an  extensive  division  of  labor 
and  specialization  of  processes,  so  that  one  individual  could  no  longer  hav« 
at  hand  in  his  own  home  several  alternate  occupations.  The  factories  neces- 
sary for  the  use  of  the  machinery  were  located  with  reference  to  power, 
raw  material  and  markets;  around  these  the  employes  gathered.  This  differ- 
entiation of  town  and  country  removed  the  wage-earners  from  contact  with 
the  soil,  and  when  employment  for  wages  ceased,  there  was  ordinarily  no 
other  source  of  income.  At  the  same  time  the  factory  system  made  per- 
sonal relations  between  employers  and  employes  increasingly  difficult.  The 
large  scale  production  made  it  necessary  to  prevent  all  unprofitable  expendi- 
tures; the  pecuniary  gains  of  the  business  men  became  the  motivating  forces 
in  the  new  industry.  Therefore,  whenever  the  labor  became  unprofitable 
either  temporarily  or  permanently  because  of  changes  in  demand  or  in  the 
conditions  of  production,  it  was  necessary  to  dispense  with  it,  and  this  could 
be  done  the  more  readily  because  the  employer  had  no  capital  invested  in 
labor.  Moreover,  in  the  large  market,  when  production  continued  to  be 
individualistic,  the  producer  could  not  be  intimately  in  touch  with  the  de- 
mand; but  the  demand  in  this  new  industry  has  not  retained  its  former 
stability  and  comparatively  unvarying  character,  but  has  become  subject 
to  sudden  and  unexpected  fluctuations.  This  difficulty  of  estimating  the 
demand,  together  with  the  increased  dependence  on  money  and  credit,  make 
possible  the  somewhat  periodical  depressions  which  inevitably  involve  a  great 
amount  of  unemployment. 

Along  with  these  industrial  changes  have  gone  changes  in  social  policy. 
The  personal  restrictions  of  the  seventeenth  century  became  exceedingly 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT  101 

galling  and  entirely  inadequate  to  control  the  situation.  Therefore,  the 
policy  of  laissez  faire  was  adopted,  the  enlightened  self-interest  of  the  in- 
dividual was  considered  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  provide  for  himself, 
and  the  resulting  good  of  each  was  considered  to  be  the  good  of  all.  As 
a  result  of  this  attitude  unemployment  was  permitted  to  develop  in  the 
modern  industrial  system. 

Since  it  has  become  clear  that  unemployment  is  inherent  in  the  industrial 
system  as  at  present  organized,  and  that  the  laissez  faire  policy  is  no  more 
adequate  in  the  control  of  this  situation  than  the  old  personal  restrictions 
were,  social  control  has  become  necessary,  with  the  purpose  of  a  constructive 
modification  of  the  industrial  organization  which  will  prevent  and  alleviate 
unemployment.  Out  of  this  situation  there  has  developed  a  constructive 
social  program  relating  to  unemployment,  and  there  has  been  an  increasing 
consensus  of  opinion  that  some  or  all  of  its  items  are  required. 

This  program  is   stated   essentially  as   here  by  Webb,   Public   Or- 
ganization of  the   Labour   Market;   Beveridge,   Unemployment;   Rown- 
tree   and    Lasker,   Unemployment;    Baab,   Zur   Frage    der   Arbeitslosen- 
versicherung,  der  Arbeitsvermittlung,  und  der  Arbeitsbeschaffung;  Ad- 
ler,  article  "Arbeitslosigkeit"  in  Conrad's  Handworterbuch  der  Staats- 
wissenschaften;  and  in  general  in  the  bulletins  and  general  reports  of 
the  Association  international  pour  la  lutte  contre  le  chomage. 
It  is  proposed  that  unemployment  during  depressions  could  be  prevented  by 
postponing  some  of  the  public  works  and  government  contracts  until  such  depres- 
sions begin. 

Dr.  Bowley  has  estimated  that  in  England  for  this  purpose  it 
would  be  necessary  to  postpone  yearly  about  3  or  4  per  cent  of  the 
government  contracts.  Webb,  Prevention  of  Destitution,  p.  113. 
It  would  be  possible,  for  instance,  to  postpone  some  of  the  work  on 
public  buildings,  ships,  roads,  materials  for  the  army  and  navy,  printing  of 
government  documents  and  afforestation.  It  is  affirmed  that  this  method 
would  differ  essentially  from  the  relief  works  which  were  formerly  preva- 
lent in  paying  not  less  than  the  ordinary  rates  of  wages,  in  hiring  help 
because  it  was  efficient  rather  than  because  it  was  unemployed,  and  in  stimu- 
lating those  occupations  which  would  cause  employment  to  ramify  through 
the  entire  industrial  system.  But  since  it  is  maintained  that  even  in  years 
of  ordinary  prosperity  there  is  a  surplus  labor  supply,  it  is  proposed  further 
that  this  be  absorbed  by  prohibiting  any  gainful  work  by  children  under 
fifteen  years  of  age,  by  requiring  children  in  industry  between  the  ages  of 
fifteen  and  nineteen  to  devote  half  time  to  labor  and  half  time  to  indus- 
trial training,  by  furnishing  widowed  mothers  of  young  children  sufficient 
public  aid  to  support  them  on  condition  that  they  devote  their  entire  time 
to  the  training  of  the  children,  by  reducing  the  hours  of  labor  in  certain  occupa- 
tions, and  by  decentralizing  town  populations. 

Rowntree,  especially,  has  urged  the  decentralization  of  town  popu- 
lation; this  would  involve  provisions  for  facilitating  the  removal  of 
.  families  from  the  city  and  their  settlement  in  agriculture,  and  also 
an  alteration  in  transportation  rates  or  the  transportation  system, 
so  that  it  would  be  possible  for  industrial  workers  to  live  in  the 
country  near  the  cities,  whereby  they  could  make  a  part  of  their  living 
from  the  soil.  For  the  success  of  this  policy  in  Belgium,  see  C.  Pone, 
Les  abonnements  d'ouvriers  sur  les  chemins  de  fer  et  leur  action  sur 
le  marche  du  travail,  Bulletin  .de  1'association  internationale  pour  la 
lutte  contre  le  chomage,  2:443-50,  July-Sept.,  '12;  Rowntree  and  Lasker, 
op.  cit.,  pp.  262-89. 

For  the  unemployment  that  remains,  it  is  proposed  that  there  be  a 
system  of  benefits  or  insurance  against  unemployment,  either  conducted, 
subsidized  or  encouraged  in  some  other  way  by  the  government.  The  un- 
employables  who  are  capable  of  forming  or  reforming  habits  of  work  should, 
it  is  affirmed,  be  maintained  under  training.  Finally  it  is  proposed  that  the 
public  employment  agencies  or  exchanges  play  a  very  important  part  in  this 
program. 


102 REPORT  OF   THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

The    terms   "agency,"   "office,"   "bureau,"   and   more    recently   "ex- 
change," have  been  used  in  designating  this  institution.     There  is   no 
essential  difference  in  the  terms,  though  it  has  been  urged  that  "ex- 
change," which  is  the  prevalent  usage   in   England,   be   adopted   more 
generally  in   the   United   States,  because  of  the   imputed   similarity  of 
this  institution  to  exchanges  for  commodities  such  as  grain  and  lum- 
ber.    The  term  "agency"  will  be  used  in  the  present  study,  however, 
because  that  is  the  most  prevalent  usage,  and  in  order  to  avoid  the 
impersonal   connotation   of  "exchange."     It   may   be   noted,   also,   that 
the  term  "labor  exchange"  is  used  occasionally  in   the  United   States 
to  refer  to  the  co-operative  institution  in  which  commodities  are   ex- 
changed for  a  standard  labor-check.     See,  for  instance,  Missouri,  20th 
Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,   1898,  pp.   198-212. 
The  public  employment  agency  is  an  institution  managed  or  supported 
by  a  public  body  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  employers  desiring  help  to  meet 
employes  desiring  work,  and  thus  of  equating  so  far  as  possible  the  demand 
for  and   the   supply  of  labor  within  its   area  of  operation.     Its   problem   is, 
thus,  the  organization  of  the  labor  market. 

Without  assuming  the  validity  of  this  general  program  or  attempting  to 
substantiate.it,  the  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  inquire  more  specifically  into 
that  part  of  the  program  relating  to  public  employment  agencies,  especially 
in  the  United  States.  In  this  inquiry  the  following  points  will  be  considered: 
(1)  the  function  which  is  assigned  to  the  public  employment  agency  by  its 
advocates;  (2)  the  extent  to  which  this  assigned  function  is  now  being  per- 
formed by  employment  agencies,  both  public  and  private,  in  the  United 
States;  (3)  the  possibility  of  performing  this  assigned  function  in  the  United 
States  in  view  of  the  situation  in  which  such  agencies  would  operate;  (4) 
the  relation  of  employment  agencies,  operating  according  to  this  assigned 
function,  to  social  problems  other  than  unemployment.  The  underlying 
purpose  of  this  study  is,  first,  to  raise  the  question  of  the  extent  to  which 
there  is  a  scientifically  determined  policy  which  will  justify  the  United  States, 
or  a  state  or  city  within  the  United  States,  in  establishing  public  employ- 
ment agencies,  and  of  the  extent  to  which  this  policy  is  merely  a  clue,  not 
scientifically  determined,  which  may  be  used  in  experimentation: 

This   difference  between  a  policy  as  scientifically  determined  and 
a  policy  as  a  clue  for  experimentation  is  not  posited  as  absolute,  but 
merely  as  a  difference  in  degree  of  certainty  in  regard  to  the  policy. 
Any  scientifically  determined  policy  is  necessarily  hypothetical  and  sub- 
ject to  modification  on  actual   application;  but  it  is  assumed  to  have 
greater  validity  because  of  the   more  elaborate  and   complete   investi- 
gation of  the  policy  in  its  relation  to  the  general  social  situation.     This 
does  not  mean  that  a  policy  which  has  not  been  scientifically  determined 
should  not,  on  that  account,  be  advocated  under  certain  conditions. 
Secondly,  to  point  out  some  factors  which  should  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration in  the   formation  of  policies  and  in   the   actual   operations   of  public 
employment  agencies,  whether  they  are  established  on  a  scientific  basis  or 
merely  as   experiments;   thirdly,   to   attempt   to   determine   whether   there   is 
any  fundamental  reason  for  the  previous  failure  to  organize  the  labor  market, 
which  might  render  further  development  impracticable. 

CHAPTER  II. 


THE   FUNCTION   ASSIGNED   TO   THE   PUBLIC   EMPLOYMENT 
AGENCY  BY  ITS  ADVOCATES. 

The  function  assigned  to  the  public  employment  agency  by  its  advocates 

The   advocates   to   whom   reference   is   here   made   have   expressed 

their  attitudes   in  such  reports  as  that   of  the   New  York  Commission 

on    Unemployment,    the    section    on    Unemployment    of    the    American 

Association   of   Labor    Legislation,    the    Wisconsin    Industrial    Commis- 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 103 

sicm,  the  Conference  of  State  Immigration,  Land  and  Labor  Officials, 
and  in  some  of  the  reports  of  the  free  public  employment  agencies 
in  the  United  States.  The  policy  is  stated  much  more  explicitly,  but 
with  essentially  the  same  content,  though  with  differences  in  points  of 
emphasis,  by  such  European  authorities  as  Webb,  Beveridge,  Rowntree 
and  Lasker,  and  by  various  writers  in  the  bulletins  and  general  re- 
ports of  the  Association  internationale  pour  la  lutte  contre  le  chomage. 

A  more  particular  function  than  that  here  indicated  has  been 
assigned  to  the  public  employment  agency  by  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
mission to  Investigate  Employment  Offices,  1911,  which  urges  both 
that  the  public  employment  agency  should  not  attempt  to  compete 
with  the  non-public  agencies  or  to  duplicate  their  efforts,  and  also  that 
the  "true  function"  of  the  public  employment  agency  is  to  assist  in 
securing  employment  for  "those  who  are  unskilled  or  not  yet  skilled; 
those  who  are  engaged  in  interstate,  seasonal  or  casual  employment; 
the  immigrant,  the  youth  or  the  aged."  Massachusetts,  Report  of 
Commission  to  Investigate  Employment  Offices,  1911,  p.  97.  Evidently, 
however,  if  the  public  employment  agency  performed  this  "true  func- 
tion" it  would  thereby  be  competing  with  the  non-public  agencies 
and  duplicating  their  efforts.  This  assigned  function,  moreover,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  determined  not  with  a  view  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  unemployment,  but  rather  with  a  view  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  most  helpless  classes  of  the  unemployed,  and  thus 
would  make  the  employment  agency  an  eleemosynary  institution.  Con- 
sequently, no  account  is  taken  of  this  type  of  advocates  in  the  present 
study,  though  it  is  not  assumed  that  this  function  is,  therefore,  in- 
valid, 
is  the  organization  of  the  labor  market. 

The  phrase  "organization  of  the  labor  market"  has  been  used  by 
Webb  to  designate  the  objective  of  the  entire  program  for  dealing 
with  unemployment.  See  Webb,  Public  Organization  of  the  Labour 
Market.  It  has  been  used  by  others,  however,  to  refer  to  the  work 
to  be  done  by  the  public  employment  agencies,  and  it  is  in  this  latter 
sense  that  it  is  used  here.  See  Beveridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  198. 

To  organize  the  labor  market  is  to  bring  together  into  one  center  or 
system  of  co-operating  centers  all  demands  for  and  supplies  of  labor;  this 
means  the  centralization  and  unification  of  the  means  of  securing  employ- 
ment; it  means  an  institutional  facilitation  of  controlled  mobility  of  labor 
on  the  basis  of  complete  and  continuous  information  for  the  present  aim- 
less wandering  in  search  of  work,  either  within  a  locality  or  from  one  locality 
to  another.  This  implies  the  elimination  of  the  distinct,  disparate,  com- 
peting and  non-communicating  centers  in  which  demands  and  supplies  are 
now  represented.  This  institutional  organization  of  the  labor  market  would 
not  only  assist  a  workman  to  secure  employment  in  his  regular  occupation, 
but  would  enable  him  to  meet  for  bargaining  purposes  the  employers  in 
other  industries;  thus  it  would  mean  an  inter-industrial  organization  with 
reference  to  the  continuous  employment  of  labor  which  would  be  compara- 
ble with  the  concatenation  of  processes  which  has  developed  between  dif- 
ferent establishments  with  reference  to  the  profitable  production  of  com- 
modities. 

T.  Veblen,  Theory  of  Business  Enterprise,  pp.  20-65. 

This  inter-industrial  organization  of  the  employment  of  labor  would 
thus  supplement  the  industrial  organization,  in  which  the  employment  of 
labor  is  merely  a  means  to  pecuniary  gain  for  individual  establishments,  and 
would  be  made  by  the  state,  since  the  industrial  establishment  has  no  suf- 
ficiently direct  and  vital  interest  in  the  continuous  employment  of  labor 
to  lead  it  to  make  such  adjustments.  Thus  it  is  expected  that  the  public 
employment  agency  will  do  for  the  labor  market  what  has  been  done  for 
the  fruit  market  by  the  fruit  exchange,  which  receives  the  fruit  from  the 
growers  and  distributes  it  to  the  market  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  a  glut 


104 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

in  one  community  and  an  inadequate  supply  in  another.  The  public  em- 
ployment agency  has  frequently  been  compared  with  the  grain  exchange, 
also,  and  it  is  pointed  out  that  definite  indications  of  the  supply  of  grain 
are  secured  for  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  by  correspond- 
ents in  35,000  counties  and  townships,  though  similar  information  in  regard 
to  labor  is  generally  lacking. 

For  an  example  of  such  a  comparison  see  United  States,  Annual 
Report  of  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  1910,  pp.  239-40. 

For  the  individual  workman  this  organization  of  the  labor  market  means 
the  possibility  of  reduction  of  the  period  between  engagements,  a  con- 
catenation of  engagements,  or  a  dove-tailing  of  his  employments,  so  that 
he  can  pass  immediately  from  one  engagement  to  another,  if  there  is  an- 
other position  which  he  can  fill  within  the  area  of  operations  of  the  public 
employment  agency  or  the  system  of  which  it  is  a  part,  for  the  center  in 
one  locality  is,  in  an  organized  market,  merely  a  unit  in  a  system  of  co- 
operating centers  which  covers  the  entire  state,  district  or  nation. 

It  is  not  expected  that  the  public  employment  agency  would  immediately, 
or  perhaps  even  at  any  time  in  the  future,  perform  this  function  completely; 
but  nevertheless  it  is  desirable  to  consider  the  requirements  of  the  perfect 
performance  of  this  assigned  function  by  the  public  employment  agency. 
In  order  to  perform  this  function  of  organizing  the  labor  market  perfectly, 
it  would  be  necessary  for  the  public  employment  agency  to  secure  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  every  available  position  and  every  available  worker  within 
its  area  of  operations.  In  order  to  secure  complete  information  in  regard  to 
demand  and  supply,  it  would  be  necessary  that  no  position  which  might 
be  filled  should  fail  to  be  listed  in  the  public  employment  agency.  Con- 
sequently the  practice  of  hiring  workers  on  their  personal  application  would 
have  to  be  entirely  discontinued,  and  employers  would  have  to  agree  or 
be  compelled  to  secure  workers  only  through  the  employment  agencies,  for 
there  would  appear  to  be  no  other  method  of  making  wandering  in  search 
of  work  unnecessary  and  unprofitable  than  to  make  it  impossible  to  secure 
employment  in  that  way. 

The  suggestion  that  employers  discontinue  hiring  workers  on  per- 
sonal application  has  been  made  most  explicitly  by  Baab,  op.  cit.,  pp. 
257,  293-94;  Webb  has  suggested  the  necessity  of  making  the  use  of 
public  agencies  compulsory  in  hiring  casual  labor,  and  the  obvious 
implication  of  his  claim  that  wandering  in  search  of  work  would  be 
rendered  unnecessary  by  the  establishment  of  public  agencies  is  that 
he  would  generalize  this  compulsion  for  all  kinds  of  labor.  Webb, 
Public  Organization  of  the  Labour  Market,  pp.  254-55,  265. 

Moreover,  the  complete  organization  of  the  labor  market  would  require 
the  attainment  of  information,  whenever  possible,  far  enough  in  advance  of 
the  actual  demand  for  labor  or  for  employment  to  enable  the  worker  to  pass 
from  one  occupation  to  another  without  loss  of  time.  Thus  the  worker 
would  register  at  the  public  employment  agency,  not  after  he  became  un- 
employed, but  before  he  was  dismissed  from  the  previous  engagement. 

This  is  done  somewhat  extensively  in  some  of  the  German  agen- 
cies, as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  of  22,468  persons  who  registered 
in  the  Freiburg  agency  in  1906,  34.3  per  cent  were  employed  at  the 
time  of  registration.  Beveridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  245. 

and  the  employer  would  make  his  application  for  help  in  advance  of  the 
time  when  it  was  needed,  so  that  neither  employer  nor  worker  would  suffer 
loss  because  of  the  lack  of  adjustment,  and  so  that  the  agency  might  be 
given  time  in  which  to  make  the  adjustment.  In  order  that  this  advance 
information  could  be  given,  it  would  be  necessary,  further,  that  the  employer 
inform  the  employes  before  they  were  dismissed,  and  that  the  employes  in- 
form the  employer  before  they  stopped  work. 

This  requirement  is  already  in  force  for  a  restricted  class  in  South 
Carolina.  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  p.  2:490,  Oct.,  '12. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 105 

The  complete  performance  of  this  function  would  require,  also,  a  change 
in  the  relationship  of  public  and  non-public  employment  agencies.  There  is 
a  large  class  of  philanthropic  employment  agencies  which  would  gladly 
cease  operations  if  any  adequate  substitute  were  established.  The  advocates 
of  public  employment  agencies  have  attempted  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  trade  unions  and  employers'  associations,  and  in  many  cities,  especially 
in  Germany,  these  organizations  have  incorporated  their  agencies  in  the  public 
agencies  and  have  assisted  in  the  management  of  the  combined  agency. 
But  in  order  that  there  be  one  recognized  center  in  the  labor  market,  in 
which  all  demands  and  supplies  be  represented,  it  would  be  necessary  that 
the  other  non-public  agencies,  which  neither  discontinue  operations  nor  become 
incorporated  in  the  public  employment  agency,  either  co-operate  with  the 
public  agency  so  that  they  would  thus  be  eliminated  as  distinct  centers,  or 
else  be  completely  abolished.  These  non-public  agencies  might  be  eliminated 
as  distinct  centers  by  reporting  to  the  public  agencies  the  demands  and 
supplies  of  which  they  secure  information,  though  it  would  not  be  neces- 
sary to  make  these  reports  so  specific  as  to  invalidate  their  own  operations 
entirely.  For  instance,  the  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission  contemplates 
a  bulletin  which  will  give  information  in  regard  to  the  entire  labor  market 
of  the  states — this  information  to  be  secured  from  all  possible  sources,  in- 
cluding the  non-public  employment  agencies. 

Bulletin  of  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission,  1:220-21,  Aug.  20,  '12. 
But  it  has  been  urged,  also,   that  the   non-public   employment   agencies, 
especially  the  private  agencies,  should  be  completely  abolished  in  the   entire 
labor  market,  and  the  public  agencies  given  a  monopoly. 

Baab,  op.  cit.,  257,  293-94;  Loi  du  14  mars  1904  relative  au  place- 
ment des  employes  et  ouvriers  des  deux  sexes  et  de  toutes  professions, 
Bulletin  de  1'office  du  travail,  France,  11:253-54,  March,  '04. 
that  they  be  restricted  to  those  communities  in  which  public  agencies  are  not 
located. 

A.   Schiavi,  Rapport  general   No.  2  sur  la  question  du   placement, 
Compte    Rendu    de   la    conference    internationale    du    chomage,    1910.      Vol. 
Ill,  p.   10. 
and  that  they  be  completely  eliminated  from  the  casual  occupations. 

Webb,  Public  Organization  of  the  Labour  Market,  p.  341. 
In  general  the  advocates  of  public  employment  agencies  look  to  the  final 
abolition   of   the   private   agencies,    except   some   agencies   which    have    been 
established  for  particular  classes,  such  as  nurses  or  teachers. 

Schiavi,  ibid. 

Moreover  the  perfect  performance  of  this  assigned  function  would 
make  it  necessary  for  the  public  employment  agency  to  be  a  part  of  a  system 
of  public  agencies,  which  in  the  United  States  would  preferably  be  a  na- 
tional system.  Through  these  agencies  the  unemployed  in  any  locality  would 
have  access  to  information  in  regard  to  available  positions  in  all  other  local- 
ities in  the  United  States,  and  particularly  the  unemployed  in  the  city  would 
have  information  in  regard  to  positions  which  they  might  secure  in  the 
smaller  towns  and  open  country.  Thus  the  first  prerequisite  of  increased 
mobility  of  labor  would  be  adequate  and  definite  information  in  regard  to 
where  to  apply  for  employment. 

But  it  would  be  necessary,  also,  for  the  successful  operation  of  this  pro- 
posed policy  that  the  workers  be  assisted  in  going  to  other  localities  in  which 
work  was  reported  to  be  accessible,  either  by  securing  reduced  rates  on  the 
railways,  advance  payment  of  wages  or  loans  from  the  state. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  distinct  centers  in  the  labor  markets  is  expected 
to  facilitate  the  passage  of  workers  from  one  occupation  or  one  trade  to 
another,  since  these  workers  would  have  access  in  this  common  center  to 
opportunities  in  all  trades.  It  has  been  proposed  that  this  inter-occupational 
mobility  be  increased  by  having  the  worker  equipped  with  the  technical 
skill  of  two  or  more  trades  or  occupations,  in  order  to  increase  the  possi- 
bility of  dove-tailing  occupations. 


"6 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Devine,  Misery  and  Its  Causes,  pp.  126-28. 

Thus  the  establishment  of  a  central  agency  is  expected  to  increase  the 
mobility  of  fluidity  of  labor,  and  this  mobility  is  expected  to  be  both  inter- 
occupational  and  inter-communal. 

This  organization  of  the  labor  market  would  require,  also,  the  restric- 
tion of  entrance  into  certain  casual  occupations  to  those  casual  workers 
selected  by  the  agency  for  that  purpose.  This  would  make  it  necessary 
to  register  a  sufficient  number  of  casual  workers  in  a  community  to  perform 
the  casual  work  of  that  community,  to  drain  off  the  pools  of  unnecessary 
casual  laborers  now  continually  underemployed,  and  thus  furnish  regular 
and  continuous  work  to  the  registered  casual  workers;  this  is  the  process 
of  decasualization  of  labor. 

The  English  authorities  have  emphasized  this  function  of  the  ex- 
change more  than  the  writers  in  other  European  or  in  American  coun- 
tries. See,  for  instance,  Webb,  op.  cit,  pp.  260-64. 

Finally,  it  would  be  necessary  to  protect  the  labor  market  against  sud- 
den and  unregulated  increases  in  the  supply  of  labor  by  an  adequate  con- 
trol of  immigration  on  the  basis  of  the  demand  for  labor  of  the  kind  offered, 
for  a  definite  control  of  the  distribution  of  labor  could  not  be  secured  un- 
less there  was  also  a  definite  control  of  the  supply  6f  labor.  The  regulation 
of  immigration  would  make  necessary  a  co-operation  between  the  system 
of  employment  agencies  in  the  United  States  and  similar  systems  in  foreign 
countries  from  which  immigrants  come. 

H.  P.  Fairchild,  The  Restriction  of  Immigration,  American  Journal 
of  Sociology,  17:641-46,  March,  '12. 

It  is  assumed  that  th'e  remainder  of  the  program  for  dealing  with  un- 
employment 

As  outlined  above,  pp.  101-102. 

depends  on  the  public  employment  agency.  First,  the  public  employment 
agency  is  expected  to  reduce  unemployment  to  a  minimum  before  other 
measures  are  set  into  operation;  it  would  appear  to  be  a  very  inefficient 
program,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  advocates  of  these  agencies,  for  benefits 
to  be  paid  to  the  unemployed,  when  they  might  be  employed  if  they  had 
information  in  regard  to  the  opportunities  for  employment.  Secondly,  it  is 
assumed  that  the  public  employment  agency  is  the  necessary  test  of  the 
impossibility  of  finding  work.  In  order  to  administer  a  system  of  insurance 
against  unemployment,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  other  information  in 
regard  to  the  impossibility  of  finding  work  than  the  statements  of  appli- 
cants for  benefits.  In  order  to  determine  when  benefits  should  be  com- 
menced and  when  they  should  be  discontinued,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
have  complete  and  continuous  information  in  regard  to  the  demand  for  labor. 
Thirdly,  the  state  would  be  unable  to  adjust  its  contracts,  to  commence  or 
discontinue  public  works  for  the  purpose  of  levelling  or  regularizing  the 
demands  for  labor  except  on  the  basis  of  such  statistics  of  the  extent  of 
unemployment  as  would  be  furnished  by  the  reports  of  the  successful  public 
employment  agencies.  These  reports  are  expected  to  be  a  delicate  test  of 
the  necessity  for  state  action  in  increasing  industrial  activities  to  prevent  de- 
pressions. Finally,  the  decasualization  of  labor  would  be  impossible  except 
by  means  of  an  administrative  control  of  the  distribution  of  casual  labor 
which  would  confine  the  casual  work  to  a  sufficient  number  of  registered 
casual  laborers  to  enable  them  to  secure  continuous  employment. 

Because  of  this  dependence  of  the  rest  of  the  program  on  the  public 
employment  agency  and  the  inherent  importance  of  reducing  unemployment 
to  a  minimum  by  employment  in  regular  industrial  enterprises,  it  is  assumed 
that  the  establishment  of  the  public  agency  is  the  first  step  in  the  solution 
of  the  problem  of  unemployment. 

This  policy  does  not  assume  that  the  public  employment  agency  in  itself 
would  be  a  complete  solution  of  the  entire  problem  of  unemployment,  for  it 
sets  up  a  much  more  general  program,  in  which  the  employment  agency  is 
only  one,  though  the  basic,  element.  It  is  not  expected  that  the  public 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  107 

employment  agency  would  make  work  for  the  unemployed,  but  only  that  it 
would  enable  the  unemployed  to  get  in  touch  with  the  existing  opportunities 
for  employment,  of  which,  in  many  cases,  they  would  otherwise  be  ignorant. 
Thus  the  employment  agency  would  remove  the  factor  of  ignorance  and 
lack  of  definite  and  accurate  information  from  the  problem  of  unemployment. 

This  factor  is,  however,  accounted  as  a  very  large  and  important  element 
of  the  problem.     It  is  denied  outright  that  there  is  any  general  surplus  of 
labor,  in  the  sense  that  there  is  permanently  in  a  country  a  larger  number  of 
workers  than  there  are  at  any  time  opportunities  for  employment. 
Beveridge,  op.  cit.,  pp.  4-15. 

Moreover,  it  is  claimed  that  in  years  of  depression  the  actual  output 
of  commodities,  in  terms  of  tale  and  weight,  is  not  greatly  increased  and 
that  there  are  very  many  opportunities  for  employment  which,  because  of 
ignorance,  are  not  utilized,  because  laborers  are  confined  to  certain  occupa- 
tions and  to  certain  cities  or  even  parts  of  cities.  And  in  regard  to  seasonal 
fluctuations,  it  is  the  assumption  that  occupations  could  be  made  to  dovetail 
almost  completely  if  there  was  an  adequate  method  of  securing  and  distrib- 
uting information,  and,  on  the  basis  of  this  information,  of  distributing  the 
labor  supply.  Consequently,  it  is  the  basic  assumption  of  this  policy  that 
unemployment  is  due  principally  to  maladjustments  of  supply  and  demand 
at  any  one  time,  and  that  what  appears  to  be  a  surplus  of  labor  in  certain 
years  or  certain  seasons  is  largely  due  to  the  failure  on  the  part  of  the  em- 
ployes to  secure  the  opportunities  for  work  which  actually  exist.  No  one 
has  attempted  to  make  a  numerical  statement  of  the  proportion  of  unem- 
ployment due  to  this  maladjustment,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  emphasis  is 
placed  on  this  factor. 

This  is  the  ideal  which  has  been  developed  on  the  basis  of  the  actual 
experience  of  employment  agencies  in  Europe  and  other  countries,  and  the 
theoretical  consideration  of  the  situation  with  which  these  agencies  are  ex- 
pected to  deal.  It  is  this  ideal  which  is  presented  to  the  person  who  is  seek- 
ing information  in  regard  to  methods  of  dealing  with  the  problem  of  unem- 
ployment, and  on  that  account  the  present  study  is  confined  principally  to 
a  consideration  of  this  assigned  or  ideal  function  rather  than  the  functions 
actually  performed  by  the  European  agencies,  for  the  agencies  are  for  the 
most  part  far  short  of  this  ideal.  This  ideal,  moreover,  is  the  expression  of 
the  experts  or  leaders  in  the  attempt  to  solve  the  problem.  Consequently, 
this  assigned  or  ideal  function,  which  the  leaders  have  recognized  as  in  part 
Utopian  so  far  as  immediate  realization  is  concerned, 

Beveridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  198 

will  be  used  as  the  basis  of  judgment  of  the  functions  actually  performed  fey 
existing  agencies  in  the  United  States,  after  which  a  critical  study  of  this  ideal 
will  be  attempted. 

CHAPTER  III. 


The  Actual  Functioning  of  Non-Public  Employment  Agencies  in  the  United 

States. 

In  the  earlier  and  simpler  industrial  system  the  towns  were  small,  in- 
dustry^  was  relatively  stable,  and  it  was  possible  for  the  individual  to  have 
fairly  complete  information  in  regard  to  the  restricted  labor  market  without 
institutional  assistance.  But  with  the  increase  in  the  area,  complexity  and 
instability  of  the  labor  market,  there  is  no  adequate  opportunity  for  the 
laborer  by  his  own  efforts  to  determine  the  demands  for  his  labor,  even  in 
territory  contiguous  with  his  dwelling  or  his  place  of  work.  Nevertheless, 
the  older  methods  of  finding  employment  are  still  the  principal  methods, 
for  the  technique  of  the  eighteenth  century  labor  market  has  been  carried 
over  with  little  modification  into  the  labor  market  of  the  twentieth  century. 
Notwithstanding  the  demands  for  organized  and  systematized  information 
in  regard  to  the  labor  market  and  the  immense  social  importance  of  regular 


108 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

and  continuous  employment,  the  method  of  finding  employment  is  one  of  the 
purest  survivals  of  the  peddling  and  hawking  economy,  while  practically  all 
other  commodities  are  sold  in  well-known  markets. 

Beveridge,  op.  cit.,  pp.   197-98;  G.  Haw,  From  Workhouse  to  West- 
minster, The  Life  Story  of  Will  Crooks;  Wyckoff,  the  Workers;  Solen- 

berger,  op.  cit.,  pp.   139-55;  Devine,  Report  on  Employment  Bureau  for 

New    York,   pp.   22-24. 

Even  in  European  countries  in  which  the  business  of  placement  has  been 
much  more  thoroughly  systematized  than  it  has  been  in  the  United  States,  the 
workers  depend  primarily  on  informal  and  personal  information  in  finding 
employment,  and  their  principal  method  is  to  hawk  their  labor  from  shop  to 
shop  or  from  factory  to  factory. 

Beveridge,  op.  cit,  pp.  252,  253,  264. 

A  study  of  759  employers  in  New  York  has  shown  that  of  this  number 
440  secured  help  only  through  the  personal  application  of  workers  at  the 
plant,  while  only  292  combined  with  that  method  the  patronage  of  various 
kinds  of  employment  agencies. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  161. 

In  the  United  States  this  evil  of  indefinite  and  inaccurate  information  is 
increased  by  the  haphazard  direction  of  immigrants  into  occupations  and 
localities  from  the  correspondence  of  friends. 

F.  J.   Sheridan,   Italian,   Slavic  and   Hungarian  Unskilled   Immigrant 

Laborers  in  the  United  States,  Bulletin  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  72:407- 

408,  Sept.,  '07;   New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of   Immigration,   1909, 

p.  110. 

In  hawking  his  labor  the  worker  is  in  some  cases  entirely  lacking  in  direct 
information  in  regard  to  the  situation,  as  the  newcomer  in  a  community  would 
be,  though  even  in  such  cases  the  applicant  for  employment  has  indirect  knowl- 
edge which  he  has  secured  previously  in  a  somewhat  similar  situation,  and  is 
able  to  transfer  his  technique.  In  some  cases  the  applicant  for  employment 
has  informaland  personal  information  in  regard  to  how  to  find  work;  he  may 
secure  it  from  fellow-workmen,  friends,  strangers  on  the  street,  policemen, 
saloon  keepers  and  others  not  directly  recognized  as  employment  agents. 
Habits  are  formed  sometimes  of  applying  for  work  at  only  one  establishment, 
and  thus  of  limiting  the  opportunities  for  work;  this  practice  is  prevalent 
among  the  workers  in  such  establishments  as  the  steel  mills  or  stock  yards 
in  Chicago;  sometimes  the  applicant  goes  to  a  regular  series  of  establish- 
ments and  sometimes  he  applies  promiscuously;  cases  are  reported  in  which 
workmen  toss  up  coins  to  determine  the  direction  in  which  to  start  in  the 
search  of  work. 

Beveridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  265;  see,  also,  Devine,  op.  cit.,  119-29. 

Evidently  the  method  of  hawking  labor  is   quite  inadequate   to   give  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  positions  actually  existent;  even  if  the  positions 
are  finally  found,  there  is  a  great  amount  of  time  lost  between  jobs;  and  it  is 
'  a  wasteful  and  expensive  method,  for  it  is  necessary  to  travel  long  distances 
in  search  for  work  on  the  basis  of  mere  rumors,  stray  hints  and  other  infor- 
mation which  proves  to  be  unauthentic.     Such  tramping  is  hard  work,  pro- 
duces despair  and  hopelessness  and  easily  leads  to  vagrancy. 
Solenberger,  op.  cit.,  pp.   139-55. 

It  is  an  unsatisfactory  system  for  employers,  also,  since  production  is 
delayed,  particularly  in  smaller  communities,  by  lack  of  labor,  and  there  are 
at  other  times  crowds  of  unemployed  men  loitering  at  the  gates,  requiring 
attention  and  not  being  stopped  even  by  signs  "No  Help  Wanted." 

Since  it  has  become  apparent  that  the  individual  workman  is  not  fitted 
to  make  these  adjustments  for  himself,  various  institutions  have  grown  up 
whose  purpose  is  to  supply  this  assistance.  The  most  important  non-public 
agencies  of  this  type  are  the  philanthropic,  the  private,  the  trade  union  and 
the  employers'  associations,  employment  agencies.  Some  of  these  institu- 
tions merely  use  this  maladjustment  as  an  opportunity  of  making  profits; 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 109 

others  use  it  as  a  means  of  securing  control  of  the  labor  supply;  and  others 
are  more  concerned  in  the  solution  of  the  general  social  problem  which  is 
presented  by  the  maladjustment.  - 

The  philanthropic  employment  agencies 

For   detailed   descriptions    of   these   agencies,   see    in   addition   to   the 
reports   of   the   various   philanthropic   organizations,    Devine,   op.   cit.,   pp. 
109-18,  216-17,  227-31;  Kellor,  Out  of  Work,  pp.  152-78,  237-45;  New  York, 
Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  57-58;  New  York,  Report 
'of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  88-93;  Massachusetts,  24th  An- 
nual   Report   of   Statistics   of   Labor,   1893,   pp.   81-115;   Sargent,   op.   cit., 
passim;   List  of  Free  Employment  Agencies,  United  States   Department 
of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Statistics,  Circular  No.  13,  June  28,  1900. 
are  those  maintained  by  charitable,  religious,  national  or  other  associations 
in  the  attempt  to  help  applicants  of  a  restricted  class  in  which  the  association 
is  primarily  interested.     Neither  individually  nor  collectively  do  they  make  or- 
ganized efforts  to  solve  the  problem  of  unemployment. 

The  National  Employment  Exchange  in  New  York  City  is  an  excep- 
tion. 

They  have  thus  created  a  series  of  distinct  and  sometimes  competing  centers, 
between  which  there  is  practically  no  co-operation.  An  investigation  of  six- 
teen philanthropic  employment  agencies  in  Chicago  in  1911  revealed  the 
fact  that  the  operations  of  each  of  these  agencies  were  entirely  distinct  from 
those  of  other  agencies,  except  that  occasionally  applicants  who  were  not 
in  the  class  for  which  an  agency  was  intended,  or  applicants  for  whom  work 
could  not  be  found,  were  referred  to  some  other  agency.  The  philanthropic 
employment  agencies  of  Boston  planned,  in  1893,  to  establish  a  central  agency, 
but  the  plan  was  not  carried  out. 

Massachusetts,    Report    of    Board    to    Investigate    the    Unemployed, 
1895,   Part  V.,  pp.  lii-liv. 

As  a  class,  these  agencies  fail  to  organize  the  labor  market  in  accordance 
with  the  ideal  function  assigned  to  the  public  employment  agencies,  because, 
also,  they  restrict  their  operations  to  one  city,  and  only  in  isolated  cases  do 
they  attempt  to  organize  the  market  in  an  inter-communal  way.  They  seldom 
have  facilities  for  determining  opportunities  for  employment  in  other  com- 
munities. When  there  is  in  a  community  no  demand  for  labor,  these  agencies 
are  generally  as  helpless  as  the  individual  who  is  hawking  his  labor.  There 
are,  however,  some  exceptions  to  this  generalization.  Of  the  placements  made 
by  the  manual  labor  department  of  the  National  Employment  Exchange  in 
the  fiscal  year  1912,  58.9  per  cent  were  outside  of  New  York  City,  and  27.4 
per  cent  were  outside  of  New  York  State, 

National    Employment    Exchange,    3rd    Annual    Report,    1912,    Table 
No.  II. 

but  it  was  able  only  to  secure  the  positions  to  which  the  workers  were  first 
sent  and  could  do  nothing  for  them  after  that  engagement  ended.  A  small 
amount  is  done  by  such  agencies  as  the  Industrial  Removal  Office  in  New 
York  City  and  the  Federated  Jewish  Societies  in  Boston  in  the  distribution 
of  Jewish  families  and  single  men  to  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  representatives  at  Ellis  Island,  who  assist  the  immigrants  in 
choosing  destinations.  As  a  class,  however,  these  philanthropic  agencies 
either  do  no  significant  inter-communal  placement,  or  else  work  only  in 
sending  applicants  away  from  the  local  city  and  do  nothing  to  keep  them  em- 
ployed after  they  have  been  sent  out.  There  is  no  system  of  agencies  which 
is  in  touch  with  a  wide  area  and  between  which  there  is  constant  communica- 
tion, as  is  represented  in  the  ideal  system  of  employment  agencies. 

The  philanthropic  employment  agencies,  characteristically,  are  dealing 
with  the  inefficient  workers. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  117-18;  New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unem- 
ployment, 1911,  p.  57. 
Consequently,    employers    who    desire    efficient    workers    do    not    send    to 


110 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

such  institutions  for  help.  The  employers  who  do  patronize  such  agencies 
expect  to  get  only  inefficient  workers  and  they  take  advantage  of  this  ex- 
pected inferiority  to  secure  them  at  wages  lower  than  the  market  rate;  it  is 
reported  that  workers  were  sent  out  from  such  institutions  in  New  York 
at  wages  of  $5  and  $10,  when  the  market  rate  was  $25  and  $30. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  57. 
Because  of  the  reputed  inefficiency  of  the  applicants  and  the  connection  with 
charity,  the  efficient  workers  are  not  apt  to  go  to  such  institutions;  and  when 
they  do  secure  employment  through  such  agencies,  it  may  become  harmful  to 
them,  since  they  are  generally  shifted  into  the  channels  of  casual  work,  and 
casualization  is  one  of  the  chief  dangers  of  unemployment.  There  are  many 
opportunities  to  get  into  such  casual  work,  but  few  opportunities  to  get  out. 
Moreover,  in  such  work  habits  are  formed  which  make  it  difficult  for  the 
worker  to  return  to  regular  employment. 

Some  of  the  charitable  institutions  have  realized  their  inefficiency  in  deal- 
ing with  the  problem  of  unemployment,  and  some  of  the  most  prominent 
philanthropic  employment  agencies  have,  on  that  account,  been  abandoned. 
It  was  for  this  reason  that  the  three  most  notable  philanthropic  agencies  in 
New  York  City  were  abandoned — namely,  the  Cooper  Union  Labor  Bureau, 
conducted  by  the  Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  the 
Employment  Bureau  of  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  and  the  Employ- 
ment Bureau  of  the  United  Hebrew  Charities. 
Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  13-15,  112-18. 

It  was  decided  that  the  connection  with  charity,  the  lack  of  capital  and 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  side  issue  to  the  real  work  of  such  institutions  militate 
against  the  work  of  employment  agencies  conducted  by  charitable  societies 
and  that  this  work  is,  therefore,  not  a  function  of  charitable  societies. 

Thus  the  philanthropic  employment  agencies  have  been  of  assistance  to 
some  of  the  unemployed,  but  they  have  been  of  very  slight  influence  in  or- 
ganizing the  labor  market,  because  they  are  not  attempting  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  unemployment,  because  they  have  failed  to  co-operate,  because  they 
have  restricted  their  operations  to  particular  classes  and  thus  have  become 
distinct  centers  in  the  labor  market,  because  they  have  restricted  their  efforts 
principally  or  entirely  to  one  locality,  and  because  their  applicants  have  been 
generally  inefficient. 

A  second  kind  of  employment  agencies  is  that  maintained  as  a  private 
institution  for  profit.  It  is  particularly  important  to  determine  the  exfent  to 
which  these  private  employment  agencies  have  organized  the  labor  market, 
both  because  of  the  large  number  of  such  agencies  and  the  recommendation 
of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  to  Investigate  Employment  Offices,  that 
these  agencies  "should  be  regarded  as  the  recognized  and  proper  medium  for 
bringing  together  the  ordinary  employe  out  of  employment  and  the  ordinary 
employer  with  employment  to  offer." 

Massachusetts,    Report   of   Commission   to    Investigate    Employment 
Offices,  1911,  p.  14. 

There  has  been  no  study  of  the  history  of  such  agencies  in  the  United 
States,  though  it  is  known  that  there  is  a  private  employment  agency  in  Balti- 
more, which  was  established  in  1823, 

Maryland,    5th    Annual    Report    of    Bureau    of    Industrial    Statistics, 
1896:69. 

and  New  York  City  has  had  ordinances  regulating  such  agencies  since  1835. 
Neither  has  there  been  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  number  of  private 
agencies  in  the  United  States  or  the  number  of  positions  secured  by  them. 
Such  agencies  have  not  attempted  to  solve  the  social  problem  of  unem- 
ployment; they  are  business  enterprises,  maintained  for  pecuniary  reasons. 
Therefore,  it  is  to  their  interest  that  unemployment  should  continue  and  that 
it  should  be  necessary  for  employers  and  workejs  to  call  on  them  for  as- 
sistance. Consequently,  their  methods  have  been  such  as  to  yield  them  an 
individual  profit  rather  than  to  keep  the  workers  steadily  employed. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


1.1 


This  competitive  motive  has  resulted  in  the  development  of  these  agencies 
as  distinct  centers  in  the  labor  market.  This  is  seen  particularly  in  the  special- 
ization of  the  agencies.  The  private  employment  agencies  in  Chicago  in  1912 
and  the  licensed  employment  agencies  in  New  York  City  in  1910  were  classi- 
fied by  the  inspectors  of  private  agencies  as  follows: 

Private  Employment  Agencies  in  Chicago  and  New  York — Number  of  Agencies 
by  Classes  of  Laborers  Assisted. 


Type  of  Agency. 

Chicago. 

New  York. 

81 

393 

Unskilled   labor    

59 

58 

Theatrical  performers       

41 

191 

Clerical  and  mercantile  

18 

21 

General    labor    

17 

40 

13 

24 

8 

Hotel  and  restaurant  workers  

6 

38 

Barbers    

3 

23 

Farm  and  garden  laborers  

20 

Seamen    '.  .    .    .         .        • 

13 

7 

1 

Architects      ..          •           "           •       

1 

Choir   

1 

Total   . 

249 

828 

Though  these  two  classifications  are  not  entirely  comparable,  since  one 
deals  with  private  agencies  and  the  other  with  licensed  agencies,  which  in- 
cludes some  of  other  types  than  private  agencies,  they  show  some  of  the 
lines  of  classification  between  the  agencies.  But  they  have  become  specialized 
in  other  ways  than  by  occupations.  Some  agencies  are  limited  principally 
or  entirely  to  persons  of  a  particular  nationality,  color  or  sex;  others  have  a 
distinct  clientele  of  employers;  others  have  a  distinct  clientele  of  em- 
ployers, built  up  on  the  basis  of  friendship,  successful  relations  in  the 
past  or  other  indefinite  characteristic;  some  mercantile  agencies  deal  only 
with  persons  who  can  command  a  salary  of  more  than  $1,000  a  year. 
Moreover,  such  limitations  have  frequently  been  compounded;  some  agencies 
limit  their  activities  to  one  sex,  one  nationality,  one  part  of  a  city  and 
one  occupation.  There  is  in  New  York  City  an  agency  which  does  nothing 
except  place  Servo-Croats  on  the  New  York  Central  and  West  Shore 
lines  as  freight  handlers; 

Survey  29:283,   Dec.  7,  '12. 

in  Chicago  the  Great  Northern  Labor  Exchange  does  no  work  except  in 
placing  workmen  on  the  Great  Northern  and  Burlington  railways,  and  in  this 
work  gives  the  preference  to  foreigners  who  apply  for  employment. 

These  lines  of  demarcation  are  not  drawn  closely  in  most  cases,  but 
they  are  drawn  sufficiently  close  to  create  a  series  of  distinct  centers  be- 
tween which  there  is  little  or  no  co-operation.  Such  agencies  do  not  combine 
to  form  a  central  agency,  nor  do  they  co-operate  except  in  emergencies  when 
it  is  necessary  to  supplement  their  own  efforts  in  order  to  fill  positions.  Thus, 
it  is  reported  that  the  Balkan  Labor  Agency  in  Chicago  has  a  contract  to 
furnish  track  laborers  for  the  Northwestern  system,  and  since  it  is  unable  to 
secure  enough  workers  by  its  own  efforts,  it  has  made  standing  arrangements 
with  several  other  labor  agencies  by  which,  for  a  part  of  the  fees,  they  assist 
it  when  labor  is  scarce. 

Not  only  do  the  private  agencies  fail  to  co-operate,  but  they  are  often 
in  most  aggressive  competition;  especially  is  this  true  of  the  domestic  agencies. 
New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  p.  114. 

As  a  result  of  this  competition  some  agencies  attempt  to  bind  or  hold 
the  applicant  until  a  position  is  found;  likewise  some  agencies  have  demands 


112  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


for  workers  and  try  to  conceal  the  fact  from  other  agencies  until  they  find 
the  applicants.  Thus,  it  is  possible  that  there  may  be  at  the  same  time  persons 
wanting  work  and  employers  who  would  employ  such  persons  if  the  adjust- 
ment could  be  made. 

The  occupational  classification  of  private  agencies  makes  it  evident  that 
the  great  development  has  been  in  the  field  of  unskilled  labor  and  temporary 
employments.  In  New  York  about  600  of  the  750  private  employment  agencies 
are  domestic  agencies, 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  p.  114. 
and  in  Chicago  approximately  one-third  of  the  private  agencies  deal  almost 
exclusively  with  domestic  servants.  This  specialization  in  the  field  of  tem- 
porary positions  and  unskilled  labor  is  due  to  the  fact  that  these  agencies 
find  the  largest  profits  in  placing  persons  in  situations  which  are  apt  to  be 
temporary,  thereby  securing  fees  more  frequently. 

Xew  York,  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  pp.  11,  56. 
Moreover,  the  agencies  have  frequently  taken  means  to  reduce  the  length  of 
engagements  in  order  to  secure  additional  fees.  This  is  done,  first,  by  hold- 
ing up  offers  of  better  employment  to  those  already  employed.  A  striking 
form  of  this  is  seen  in  what  is  called  "stealing  men."  The  agency,  in  this  case, 
induces  men  who  are  already  employed  to  leave  their  position  and  accept 
another  position.  The  International  Labor  Agency  in  Chicago,  according 
to  the  statement  of  its  manager,  in  the  summer  of  1911  had  fourteen  repre- 
sentatives in  the  field  attempting  to  secure  laborers;  these  representatives 
went  as  far  as  New  Orleans  and  New  York;  they  secured  laborers  from 
the  mines  and  factories  of  Pennsylvania;  in  some  cases  by  arrangements 
with  interpreters  they  induced  entire  gangs  to  leave  work  on  one  railroad 
and  take  positions  on  other  railroads  in  the  vicinity.  Secondly,  some  agencies 
shorten  engagements  by  making  arrangements  with  employers  or  foremen 
to  dismiss  the  employes  after  they  have  worked  for  a  short  time  and  to 
hire  others;  the  fees  are  then  divided  between  the  agency  and  the  employer 
or  foreman. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  118-20; 
California,  9th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,   1899-1900, 
p.  73;  Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1909- 
10,  p.  200;  Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  194-95;  27th  Annual  Convention  of  Inter- 
national Association  of  Officials  of  Bureaus  of  Labor,  1911,  p.  78. 
In  Chicago  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company,  the  Rock  Island  Railway 
and  the  George  W.  Jackson  Construction   Company  asked  the  assistance  of 
the  inspector   of  private   employment  agencies   in   breaking   up   this   custom, 
for  it  was  demoralizing  their  labor  forces;  several  of  the  foremen  were  fined 
and  discharged  for  this,  and  the  next  year  the  Santa  Fe  and  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee and  St.  Paul  Railway  Companies  were  assisted  in  the  same  way. 

Illinois,  llth  Annual   Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,   1909,  pp. 
108,   112. 

Private  employment  agencies  differ  greatly  in  regard  to  the  local  limita- 
tions of  their  work.  Many  of  them,  however,  limit  their  work  to  a  particular 
locality,  and  thus  it  is  possible  that  they  may  have  applicants  for  positions 
whom  they  can  not  place,  though  there  are  many  vacancies  of  the  kind  desired 
outside  their  area  of  operations..  Other  agencies  do  a  great  deal  of  work  in 
sending  labor  outside  the  city  or  the  state.  The  following  figures  show  some- 
thing of  the  extent  of  such  operations  by  the  agencies  for  immigrant  con- 
tract labor  in  New  York:  Sixty-one  agencies  of  this  type  sent  out  from  that 
city  40,737  men  in  the  period  from  May  1,  1904,  to  July  31,  1906,  of  whom 
10,596  were  sent  to  other  parts  of  New  York  State,  11,597  to  fourteen  other 
northern  states,  and  18,544  to  twelve  southern  states;  of  the  entire  number, 
55.0  per  cent  were  sent  to  railroad  construction  work,  8.5  per  gent  to  coal 
mines,  and  the  rest  to  miscellaneous  positions;  they  were  sent  to  643  different 
localities,  and  92  per  cent  of  them  to  towns  with  a  population  less  than 
50,000. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,   1909,  pp.   120-21. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT  113 

Of  the  private  agencies  in  Chicago  which  handle  immigrant  labor,  68 
per  cent  had  no  offers  of  work  except  at  long  distances. 

Grace  Abbott,  The  Chicago  Employment  Agency  and  the  Immigrant 

Worker,  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  14:293,  Nov.,  '08. 

But  these  figures  are  not  in  themselves  adequate  evidence  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  labor  market.  It  is  necessary  to  know  also  what  becomes  of 
these  workers.  Very  few  of  these  private  agencies  have  branches  or  agents  in 
other  communities;  they  merely  find  opportunities  for  employment  in  other 
localities  and  do  nothing  to  keep  the  workers  in  employment.  Consequently, 
when  the  workers  finish  the  engagement  to  which  they  are  sent,  they  are  left 
without  direction  in  regard  to  opportunities  for  employment,  and  are  com- 
pelled to  drift  back  to  the  cities  in  which  there  are  agencies,  or  to  wander 
about  without  guidance  in  the  search  for  work.  In  some  states  there  are 
laws  which  limit  the  activities  of  the  agencies  to  the  cities  in  which  they 
are  licensed,  and  it  is  necessary  that  workers  return  to  those  cities  before  the 
agencies  can  do  anything  to  assist  them,  even  though  the  agencies  may 
know  of  positions  in  the  localities  in  which  the  workers  were  previously 
engaged. 

New  York  Statute  on  Employment  Agencies;    National  Employment 

Exchange,  1st  Annual  Report,  1910,  pp.  24-25. 

In  addition  to  these  fundamental  inadequacies  and  deficiencies,  the 
character  of  many  of  these  agencies  has  been  such  that  employes  and  em- 
ployers have  refused  to  patronize  them  at  all,  or  do  so  only  as  a  last  resort. 
Miss  Kellor  decided  in  1904  that  two-thirds  of  the  private  employment  agen- 
cies were  dishonest  and  fraudulent, 

Kellor,  op.  cit,  pp.  40-41.  It  is  not  clear  whether  the  reference  is 
here  to  the  private  agencies  of  New  York  City,  or  to  the  agencies  in  all 
the  cities  studied,  including  Chicago,  Boston  and  Philadelphia,  in  addi- 
tion to  New  York  City. 

and  more  recently  the   Commissioner  of  the   License  Bureau  of  New   York 
City  estimated  that  60  per  cent  of  the  agencies  were  honest. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  p.  13,  footnote. 

Of  thirteen  private  agencies  interviewed  in  Chicago  in  1912,  two  stated  that 
the    reason   they   did    not   co-operate   with   private    employment   agencies    in 
other  cities  was  that  most  private  agencies  were  dishonest.    The  general  char- 
acter of  these  agencies  may  be  explained  in  view  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
little    capital    required,   the   clients    are    frequently   changing,    are    frequently 
ignorant  of  the  customs  and  laws,  and  do  not  have  information  in  regard  to 
what  the  agency  is  doing.    The  abuses  are  certainly  not  found  in  all  agencies, 
but  all  agencies  suffer  more  or  less  from  the  same  reputation,  and  the  abuses 
and  general  reputation  are  factors  in  their  success  in  organizing  the  market. 
On  these  abuses,  see  in  particular,  Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  179-213;  United 
States   Industrial    Commission,    1901,    I5:lxxxv   ff.;    Illinois,    10th    Biennial 
Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1898,  pp.  46-138;  Sargent,  opp.  cit., 
passim;    New    York,    Report    of    Commission    of    Immigration,    1909,    pp. 
111-28.     Many  of  the  reports  of  the  state  bureaus  of  labor  statistics  also 
give   information  in  regard  to  this. 

These  frauds  are  of  the  most  various  nature.    The  agencies  are  known  to 
misrepresent  pay,  permanency  of  positions  and  other  conditions  of  work. 

New   York,  Report  of  Commission   of  Immigration,   1909,  pp.  80-88, 
115-16;   Kellor,  op.  cit.,  193-94;  Abbott,  loc.  cit.,  14:295. 
During   the   period   from   May,   1904,   to   February,    1909,   twelve   licenses 
were  revoked  in  New  York  City  for  this  cause. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  115-16. 
The  fees  are  frequently  very  high,  and  in  fact  the  contract  labor  agencies 
frankly  state  that  they  charge  whatever  they  can  get. 

Abbott,  loc.  cit.,  14:296. 

Very  complete  records  have  been  secured  in  regard  to  the  operation  of  the 
private  employment  agencies  of  California;  these  records  show  that  the  fee 


114 REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

which  is  charged  is  inversely  proportional  to  the  number  of  positions  secured 
in  each  month. 

California,  14th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1909- 
10,  pp.  318-26. 

In  Chicago  the  fee  is  sometimes  as  high  as  $20  when  work  is  scarce, 
ranges  most  generally  from  $2  to  $6,  though  in  the  summer,  when  most  of 
the  workers  are  employed,  no  fees  are  charged,  and  inducements  may  even 
be  offered  to  the  workers  to  accept  positions.  The  average  fee  charged  by 
the  firm  of  Clapp,  Norstrom  and  Riley  in  Chicago  during  the  year  1910, 
according  to  their  records,  was  $1.36;  however,  out  of  19,908  positions  secured, 
no  fees  were  paid  by  2,658  persons.  Though  statutes  in  many  states  regulate 
the  fees,  this  has  generally  been  interpreted  to  mean  only  the  original  regis- 
tration fee  paid  before  a  position  is  secured,  and  to  be  in  no  case  a  limitation 
of  the  right  to  contract. 

Ex  parte  Dickey,  114  California  234,  77  Pac.  924;  case  of  Hill  v. 
Ohio,  reported  in  Ohio,  32d  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1908,  pp.  18-23;  Illinois,  Report  of  Attorney  General,  1903-4,  pp.  277-78; 
Abbott,  loc.  cit.,  14:295-96;  Oklahoma,  Report  of  Attorney'  General,  re- 
produced in  1st  Annual  Report  of  Oklahoma  Department  of  Labor,  1908, 
p.  174.  A  lower  court  in  Oklahoma  has  decided  that  the  fee  of  $2  is  the 
maximum  charge  that  can  be  made  in  any  way,  either  on  registration  or 
subsequently.  See,  State  of  Oklahoma  v.  Welch  Employment  Agency, 
June  22,  1911,  reported  in  4th  Annual  Report  of  Oklahoma  Department 
of  Labor,  1910-11,  pp.  101-02,  and  International  Association  of  Officials  of 
Bureaus  of  Labor,  27th  Annual  Report,  1911,  p.  77.  Dr.  L.  D.  Clark  has 
objected  to  the  decisions  on  the  ground  that  the  regulation  of  employ- 
ment agency  fees  is  not  different  in  principle  from  the  regulation  of 
rates  of  interest.  Bulletin  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  91:936. 
Moreover,  these  agencies  frequently  accept  fees  without  reference  to  the 

possibility  of  securing  positions  for  applicants, 

Kellor,  op.  cit.,  p.  188;  Abbott,  loc.  cit.,  14:297-99. 

and,  though  these  fees  can  legally  be  reclaimed  if  the  applicant  does  not 
secure  employment,  the  ignorance  of  the  applicants,  the  lack  of  efficient  in- 
spection in  most  states,  and  the  long  time  limits  within  which  the  fee  can  be 
held  by  the  agency,  practically  mean  that  when  a  fee  is  paid  it  is  lost  unless 
a  position  is  secured. 

What  can  be  done  by  inspection  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  in  Chicago 
fees  amounting  to  $4,040  were  refunded  during  the  year  1910-11  through 
the  assistance  of  the  inspectors  and  without  prosecution.  Illinois,  13th 
Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1911,  pp.  102,  109.  In  New 
York  City  six  licenses  were  revoked  for  refusal  to  refund  fees  during 
the  period  from  May,  1904,  to  February,  1909.  New  York,  Report  of  Com- 
mission of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  115-16. 

In  New  York  one  agency  was  found  which  maintained,  under  another  name, 
a  guarantee  bureau,  from  which  the  applicants  were  required  to  secure  state- 
ments of  character,  for  which  an  additional  fee  was  paid. 

New  York,  17th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1899, 
pp.  1223-24. 

Some  agencies  have  sent  applicants  to  the  free  employment  agencies,  charging 
them  a  fee  for  this  service, 

An  employment  agency  in  Virginia  sent  a  gang  of  laborers  from 
there  to  Kansas  Free  Employment  Agency,  charging  for  this  a  fee  of  $20 
for  each  person,  llth  Kansas,  Annual  Report  of  Director  of  Free  Em- 
ployment Bureau,  1911,  p.  3. 

and  to  large  firms  which  were  hiring  many  employes,  without  direct  knowl- 
edge of  whether  additional  workers  were  needed  at  the  time;  in  this  case 
the  agency  had  nothing  to  lose  and  there  was  a  possibility  that  the  applicant 
might  secure  a  position.  Applicants  are  frequently  sent  to  distant  places  and 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 115 

when  they  arrive  find  no  work  and  have  no  funds  on  which  to  return  to  the 
^employment  agency. 

Abbott,  loc.  cit.,  14:297-99. 

These  agencies  are  interested  primarily  in  securing  the  fees  from  appli- 
cants, and  so  fail  to  adjust  the  applicants  to  positions,  but  place  them  in  any 
available  position,  even  though  it  is  certain  that  such  applicants  must  soon 
be  dismissed,  thus  causing  trouble  both  for  the  employes  and  the  employers. 

W.  S.  Wollner,  A  Plan  of  Organization  for  a  Track  Labor  Depart- 
ment, Railway  Age  Gazette,  52:494-96,  March  15,  '12. 

They  frequently  have  no  knowledge  of  the  kind  of  positions  to  which  appli- 
cants are  sent, 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  p.  114;  Kel- 
lor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  57-58,  78  ff. 

and  frequently  place  applicants  in  positions  in  which  there  is  known  to  be 
brutal  treatment  and  peonage. 

Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  207-10;  New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Im- 
migration, 1909,  p.  122.  See,  also,  the  case  against  the  Corn  Products 
Company  in  the  Chicago  daily  papers,  December  16,  '08. 

Both  unwittingly  and  intentionally,  sometimes  directly  and  sometimes  through 
their  "runners," 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  114, 
118-19. 

they  place  young  women  in  disreputable  houses;  investigators  for  the  New 
York  Commission  of  Immigration  in  New  York  City  and  Buffalo,  and  for  the 
Vice  Commission  in  Chicago  found  agencies  which  were  willing  to  send  girls 
to  disreputable  houses,  even  when  the  agencies  were  informed  of  the  character 
of  the  positions; 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  p.  118;  Re- 
port of  Chicago  Vice  Commission,  1911,  pp.  218-21. 
ten  licenses  were  revoked  for  this  cause  in  New  York  from  1904  to  1909, 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  115-16. 
and  three  Chicago  agents  were  prosecuted  for  this  offense  in  1911. 

Illinois,  13th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1911,  p.  102. 
Moreover,  these  agencies  are  directly  and  indirectly  responsible  for  vice  and 
immorality  by  such  office  arrangements  as  failure  to  segregate  the  sexes, 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  118;  Kellor, 
op.  cit.,  p.  28. 

by  keeping  open  until  late  at  night  with  disreputable  characters  permitted 
in  the  offices. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  p.  118. 
by   connection   with   saloons,   gambling-dens,    fortune   tellers,   palmists,    mid- 
wives  and  similar  classes, 

Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  21-22,  77,  181-83;  New  York,  Report  of  Commis- 
sion of  Immigration,  1909,  p.  117. 
and  by  conducting  agencies   in  living  rooms. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  114-16; 
Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  20-26;  Abbott,  loc.  cit.,  14:291. 

Moreover,  their  quarters  are  frequently  dark,  badly  ventilated  and  extremely 
dirty  and  vermin-laden. 

Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  8,  20-28. 

Finally,  these  agencies  .have  been  connected  in  many  ways  with  the 
padrones  who  have  assisted  in  changing  the  workers  frequently  from  position 
to  position,  have  secured  commissary  concessions,  have  violated  the  spirit, 
if  not  the  letter,  of  the  contract  labor  law,  and  have  misrepresented  work 
conditions. 


116  REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

G.  C.  Speranza,  Charities,  11:26-28,  1903;  G.  C.  Speranza,  in  3rd 
General  Report  of  New  York  Department  of  Labor,  1903,  pp.  199-203; 
Survey,  29:283,  Dec.  7,  '12;  New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigra- 
tion, 1909,  pp.  115-16,  121-28. 

There  has  not  been  great  success  up  to  this  time  in  preventing  these 
abuses  in  the  private  agencies;  only  eighteen  states  have  any  legislation  for 
this  purpose,  and  of  these  states  less  than  half  have  any  inspection  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcement  of  the  law.  The  state  regulations  are  supplemented 
somewhat  by  municipal  ordinances  and  police  control.  The  system  of  control 
has  been  especially  inadequate  in  regard  to  the  interstate  work  of  such  agen- 
cies; it  is  reported  that  the  New  York  State  Bureau  of  Industries  had  hun- 
dreds of  such  cases  which  required  federal  control. 

Frances  A.  Kellor,  Interstate  Immigration,  Land  and  Labor  Prob- 
lems, Survey,  29:326,  Dec.  14,  '12. 

Consequently,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  private  employment  agencies 
have  failed  very  signally  in  organizing  the  labor  market,  and  that  a  general 
organization  of  the  labor  market,  such  as  is  desired  by  the  students  of  unem- 
ployment, would  be  very  foreign  to  their  purpose.  They  are  business  enter- 
prises, working  for  profits,  and  therefore  have  found  it  impossible  to  co- 
operate with  other  private  agencies  or  with  other  types  of  employment 
agencies;  on  the  other  hand,  they  have  been  in  the  most  aggressive  competi- 
tion in  so  far  as  they  have  been  engaged  in  the  same  kind  of  work.  They 
have  found  it  profitable  to  specialize  in  a  particular  kind  of  work,  and  have 
set  up  various  occupational,  national  or  racial,  local  and  other  limitations: 
particularly  they  have  specialized  in  the  field  of  short-time  employments,  and 
have  attempted  to  make  engagements  as  short  as  possible  in  order  to  increase 
the  frequency  of  the  fees.  Consequently,  they  have  been  centers  which  are 
distinct,  and  thus  have  divided  the  labor  market  into  relatively  separate  parts, 
between  which  there  has  been  little  communication.  They  have  organized 
certain  parts  of  the  labor  market,  but  it  has  been  done  in  such  a  way  as  to 
present  a  series  of  conflicting  and  segregated  organizations,  instead  of  the 
one  central  and  all-inclusive  institution  in  which  all  demands  and  supplies 
might  be  represented.  And  they  have  acquired,  either  justly  or  unjustly, 
such  a  reputation  for  fraud  and  dishonesty  that  general  patronage  by  employ- 
ers and  employes  is  not  conceivable.  Moreover,  the  helplessness  of  the 
applicants  for  employment  and  the  consequent  great  possibility  for  fraudulent 
and  dishonest  practices  have  convinced  the  students  of  unemployment  that 
the  general  organization  of  the  labor  market  can  not  be  expected  to  result 
from  the  private  employment  agencies. 

The  employment  agencies  maintained,  either  formally  or  informally,  by 
department  stores,  typewriter  companies,  business  colleges  and  saloons  are 
similar  to  the  private  agencies  in  that  such  agencies  are  maintained  primarily 
for  financial  gain,  though  the  gain  is  indirect  and  in  the  form  of  advertise- 
ment or  increased  patronage.  Some  of  the  typewriter  companies  and  business 
colleges  are  of  benefit  to  a  particular  and  small  group  of  workers,  but  the 
saloons  have  been  subject  to  much  criticism  because  of  the  necessity  of 
spending  considerable  sums  of  money  before  positions  can  be  secured.  A 
strike  of  7,000  grain  handlers  in  Buffalo  from  February  25  to  May  22,  1899, 
is  said  to  have  been  caused  principally  by  the  fact  that  they  were  forced  to 
secure  employment  through  a  saloon. 

New  York,  18th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1900, 
p.  1003. 

The  cooks  and  waiters  of  Chicago  made  frequent  complaints  during  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1913  because  they  were  compelled  to  secure  their  posi- 
tions through  four  saloons,  which  had  become  recognized  employment  agen- 
cies, though  not  operating  under  that  name. 

Eight  organizations  of  cooks  and  waiters  in  Chicago,  after  failing  to 
secure  relief  by  appeals  to  the  inspector  of  private  employment  agencies, 
the  mayor  and  the  state's  attorney,  passed  a  resolution  that  private  em- 
ployment agencies  of  any  kind  be  made  illegal,  and  that  the  state  extend 


• REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 117 

the  system  of  public  employment  agencies.  This  resolution  was  passed, 
also,  by  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  on  March  2,  1913,  and  turned 
over  to  the  legislative  committee  of  the  Federation  in  order  to  secure 
the  passage  of  such  legislation. 

Such  agencies,  operating  indirectly  for  financial  gain,  are  very  restricted 
in  their  importance,  are  confined  to  small  classes  of  workers  and  have  been 
able  to  accomplish  almost  nothing  in  the  general  organization  of  the  labor 
market.  Moreover,  they  have  made  no  attempt  to  solve  the  general  problem 
of  unemployment,  but  have  merely  used  this  condition  of  the  workers  as  a 
means  of  increasing  their  own  profits. 

The  newspaper  "want  ads"  are  another  means  of  organizing  the  labor 
market.  The  manager  of  the  Chicago  Daily  News  stated  in  1912:  "No  em- 
ployment agency  can  do  more  than  put  the  employers  and  employes  in 
contact  with  each  other,  and  the  newspaper  'want  ads'  do  that."  It  is,  there- 
fore, necessary  to  determine  the  extent  to  which  they  have  succeeded  in 
organizing  the  labor  market,  and  to  interpret  them  in  connection  with  the 
general  solution  of  the  problem  of  unemployment. 

The  profits  resulting  from  this  department,  both  directly  from  the  charges 
for  insertions,  and  indirectly  from  the  increased  sale  of  the  papers,  are  evi- 
dently the  explanation  for  its  maintenance.  Consequently,  co-operation  with 
other  agencies  would  mean  the  loss  of  those  profits,  and  co-operation  between 
newspapers  and  other  employment  agencies  would  be  expected  no  more  than 
it  would  be  expected  that  private  employment  agencies  would  co-operate  to 
form  a  central  agency.  In  St.  Louis  the  newspapers  have  looked  on  the 
public  employment  agency  as  a  competitor,  have  charged  it  the  highest  rate 
for  insertions,  and  one  paper  which  had  made  a  contract  for  about  $100  worth 
of  advertising  refused  to  carry  out  the  contract. 

Conner,  op.  cit.,  p.  46. 

Moreover,  these  "want  ads"  are  confined  to  a  relatively  few  occupations; 
a  few  trades,  clerical  positions  and  miscellaneous  odd  jobs  form  the  largest 
part  of  the  legitimate  positions  offered.  Thus,  because  of  the  inherent  oppo- 
sition to  co-operation  with  other  agencies  and  the  restricted  patronage,  the 
"want  ads"  have  been  merely  another  distinct  center  in  the  labor  market. 

These  "want  ads"  are,  also,  a  wasteful  and  expensive  method  of  organiz- 
ing the  labor  market  in  so  far  as  they  are  successful.  The  well-known  rushes 
for  positions  and  the  instances  in  which  hundreds  of  applications  are  made 
for  a  single  position  show  the  overlapping  and  the  waste  of  efforts.  This 
kind  of  agency  does  not  attempt  to  control  the  distribution  of  labor  in  an 
organized  way. 

The  "want  ads"  do  not  discriminate  adequately  between  positions  offered, 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  probable  moral  effect.  Disreputable  houses,  which 
can  not  legally  secure  the  assistance  of  private  employment  agencies,  can 
secure  help  through  the  newspapers.  The  inspector  of  private  employment 
agencies  in  Illinois  has  stated  that  the  newspapers  are  more  frequently  of- 
fenders than  the  private  employment  agencies  in  assisting  disreputable  houses 
to  secure  help. 

While  a  private  employment  agency  in  Chicago  was  being  prosecuted 
in  1912  for  sending  two  girls  to  a  disreputable  house,  the  girls  were  at- 
tempting to  find  employment.  They  secured  a  position  through  the  col- 
umns of  one  of  the  newspapers,  but  the  position  proved  to  be  in  a  more 
notoriously  disreputable  house  than  the  first. 

Moreover,  the  "want  ads"  do  not  furnish  definite  and  accurate  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  demand  for  labor.  The  "want  ads"  contain  many  mis- 
leading, vague  and  "fake"  advertisements;  a  large  proportion  of  the  "want 
ads"  in  the  newspapers  are  in  either  an  open  or  a  concealed  form,  merely 
advertisements  of  civil  service  instruction,  offers  of  wares  concealed  as  sam- 
ples or  outfits,  "work  to  be  done  at  home,"  with  a  prerequisite  that  the  raw 
materials  be  purchased  from  the  advertisers,  advertisements  for  solicitors, 
canvassers  or  others  who  are  not  offered  work  for  wages  but  a  commission 
to  be  paid  after  the  work  is  done. 
Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  130-58. 


118  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


It  was  found  that  on  the  average  53.7  per  cent  of  the  "want  ads"  in  two 
of  the  large  newspapers  of  New  York  were  "fake  ads"  and  the  proportion  of 
such  advertisements  increased  as  the  amount  of  unemployment  increased,  and 
that  in  the  depression  of  1908  more  than  50  per  cent  were  of  this  nature. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  135-42. 

The  employment  agencies  maintained  either  formally  or  informally  by  trade 
unions  have  served  to  organize  the  market  still  further, 

On  trade  union  employment  agencies,  see  the  constitutions  and  regu- 
lar  publications   of  the  various   national   organizations;   Devine,   op.   cit., 
pp.   159-80;   United   States,   Report  of  Industrial   Commission,   1901,   Vol. 
XVII,  pp.  Ixi  and  1-324;  E.  Stewart,  Documentary  History  of  the  Early 
Organizations  of  Printers,   Bulletin  U.  S.   Bureau  of  Labor,   No.  61,  pp. 
857-1033,   Nov.,  '05;   Chicago   City   Club,   Sub-Committee   on   Labor,   Un- 
published Report  on  Trade  Union  Employment  Agencies,  1911. 
and  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor,  in  a  resolution  passed  in  1911,  claimed 
that  the  trade  union  employment  agencies  were  "the  most  extensive  and  effi- 
cient employment  agencies  in  the  city."    But  the  trade  unions  have  shown  no 
indication  of  a  purpose  to  solve  the  general  problem  of  unemployment  in  the 
establishment  of  their  offices.     They  are  interested  primarily  or  exclusively 
in  securing  work  for  their  members,  and  thus  of  keeping  the  non-members 
unemployed;    only   in   the   weaker   unions,    except   in   emergencies,   are   non- 
members  assisted  in  securing  positions.     The  Brewery  Workers'  Union  pro- 
vides that  a  local  union  which  furnishes  non-union  help  to  employers  shall 
be  fined  and  may  be  suspended;  if  there  are  no  unemployed  members  in  the 
locality  it  is  necessary  for  the  union  to  secure  union  members   from   some 
other  locality. 

Constitution,  Art.  ix,  Sec.  18. 

As  early  as  1802  some  of  the  unions  required  their  officers,  and  within  a 
few  years  their  members  also,  to  take  an  oath  to  procure  employment  for 
union  members  in  preference  to  non-members. 

Stewart,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  867,  943. 

and  very  many  of  the  unions  have  constitutional  provisions  that  the  officials 
and  members  must  give  this  same  preference  to  the  members  of  the  union, 
though  in  actual  practice  many  unions  furnish  non-members  to  the  employ- 
ers when  members  are  not  available. 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  61. 

Some  of  the  weaker  unions,  however,  permit  non-union  persons  to  use  the 
trade  union  employment  agencies  on  an  equal  basis  with  members;  out  of 
thirty-four  unions  investigated  in  New  York  City,  four  of  the  weakest  thus 
permitted  the  use  of  their  employment  agencies  by  persons  not  members  of 
the  union. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  162,  172-73,  177. 

Consequently  each  union  maintains  an  agency  for  a  very  restricted  group 
of  workers,  and  between  these  agencies  there  is  practically  no  co-operation; 
instead  of  one  central  agency  for  the  entire  labor  market,  the  trade  unions 
have  built  up  a  series  of  distinct  and  segregated  agencies.  Not  only  do  these 
agencies  ordinarily  restrict  their  services  to  their  own  members,  but  they 
are  effective  only  in  placing  their  members  in  their  own  trade.  They  do  not 
attempt,  and  it  seems  to  be  contrary  to  their  general  policy  to  increase  occu- 
pational mobility. 

So  long  as  the  trade  unions  are  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  skilled 
trades,  it  is  evident  that  they  do  not  succeed  in  organizing  the  generai  labor 
market.  Certain  efforts  have  been  made,  however,  toward  extending  unionism 
to  the  unskilled  laborers.  President  Gompers,  in  his  report  to  the  Convention 
of  1912,  urged  the  formation  under  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  of  a 
Department  of  Migratory  Labor,  and  the  organization,  under  its  control,  of 
a  system  of  employment  agencies. 

American  Federationist,  19:43-44,  Jan.,  '12. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 119 

But  it  is  evident  that  at  the  present  time  the  trade  unions  have  had  very 
little  success  and,  in  fact,  have  made  very  few  efforts  to  extend  their  move- 
ment to  the  unskilled  laborers.  Consequently  whatever  success  they  have 
had  in  organizing  the  labor  market  has  been  confined  to  a  part  of  the  labor 
market,  and  has  not  included  the  unskilled  and  migratory  workers. 

Even  for  the  portion  of  the  labor  market  in  which  the  trade  unions  have 
been  established,  however,  the  organization  has  not  ^eea— developed  far,  for 
the  employment  agency  does  not  appear  to  be,  afr'essential  part  of  the  trade 
union  program,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  a  factor  which  receives  emphasis.  The 
trade  unions  place  much  more  emphasis  on  policies  which  are  intended, 
among  other  things,  to  increase  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done,  or  to  decrease 
the  supply  of  labor,  and  thus  to  decrease  unemployment.  Consequently  the 
methods  of  the  employment  agency  have  not  been  developed,  but  are  gen- 
erally exceedingly,  haphazard, 

Devine,   op.   cit.,   pp.  21,    159;   Chicago   City  Club,   Report   of  Sub- 
Committee  of  Committee  on  Labor. 

and  some  of  the  secretaries  have  admitted  the  entire  inadequacy  of  their 
methods. 

.    Devine,  op.  cit.,  p.  180. 

Only  in  those  unions  which  have  such  a  monopoly  on  the  trade  that 
the  employers  must  send  to  them  for  help  is  there  an  organized  method  of 
securing  information  in  regard  to  positions.  In  other  unions  dependence  is 
placed  on  the  information  secured  by  business  agents,  by  requests  of  em- 
ployers, by  informal  statements  of  members  in  the  weekly  meetings  or  out- 
side of  such  meetings  and  by  formal  reports  in  the  weekly  meetings.  There 
is  seldom  any  adequate  registration  of  the  unemployed  members;  some  unions 
keep  an  out-of-work  book,  in  which  the  members  may  register,  and  the  mem- 
bers are  then  chosen  from  this  list  in  order  of  seniority,  priority  of  appli- 
cation, length  of  time  out  of  work  or  fitness  for  work;  a  few  unions  go  so  far 
as  to  send  telegrams  to  the  unemployed  members,  announcing  positions  which 
are  accessible. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  p.  175. 

Other  unions  keep  no  such  lists,  but  announcements  of  positions  are 
placed  on  the  bulletin  boards  and  any  member  who  sees  them  may  go  for 
the  positions,  thus  causing  duplication  of  efforts.  Thus  there  is  no  well  or- 
ganized method  of  learning  of  positions,  selection  of  applicants  or  of  keep- 
ing records.  In  addition  the  business  agent  has  a  great  deal  of  power,  which 
may  be  used  arbitrarily  in  his  selection  of  applicants  for  positions;  the  mem- 
bers are  in  the  dark,  while  he  knows  both  the  members  who  are  unemployed 
and  the  positions  that  are  available. 
Chicago  City  Club,  op.  cit. 

There  is  considerable  diversity  in  the  success  of  these  agencies  in  secur- 
ing work  for  their  own  members.  Their  strength  with  reference  to  the  labor 
market  as  a  whole  may  be  indicated  by  the  fact  that  of  759  employers  in 
New  York  City  only  10  (1.3  per  cent)  used  such  agencies  exclusively  in  se- 
curing help,  and  only  18  (2.4  per  cent)  used  such  agencies  in  connection  with 
personal  applications  at  their  plants. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  161. 

Most  of  the  local  unions  in  the  garment  trade  in  New  York  City  ad- 
mitted that  they  could  do  very  little  for  their  members  in  this  way, 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  p.  160. 

and  the  painters'  and  decorators'  union,  though  in  a  trade  in  which  engage- 
ments are  characteristically  short,  secures  work  for  only  about  10  per  cent 
of  its  members. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  166-67. 

The  firemen's  union,  on  the  other  hand,  secured  work  for  from  93  to  97 
per  cent  of  its  members  in  the  year  1907. 
Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.   160,  177. 


120 REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Some  of  the  strong  unions  do  not  permit  their  members  to  make  individual 
applications  for  work. 

United  States,  Report  of  Industrial  Commission,  1901,  XVII:lxi-lxii. 
Thus  the  efficiency  of  the  employment  agency  seems  to  depend  primarily 
on  the  strength  of  the  union,  and  to  be  very  nearly  in  direct  correlation  with 
the  extent  to  which  the  craft  is  controlled.  The  cordiality  of  relations  with 
employers  is  a  second  factor  in  their  efficiency;  unless  employers  will  co- 
operate, there  is  no  possibility  of  the  success  of  such  agencies;  such  co-opera- 
tion might  conceivably  result  when  the  relationship  between  employers  and 
the  union  is  friendly,  even  though  the  union  was  weak.  If  the  relationship 
is  not  cordial,  membership  in  a  weak  union  is  a  positive  detriment  to  the 
securing  of  employment.  The  energy  and  ability  of  the  business  agent  is  a 
third  factor  in  the  efficiency  of  the  employment  agencies;  in  Chicago  some 
unions  keep  their  members  steadily  employed  on  this  account,  while  other 
unions  in  the  same  craft  have  unemployed  members. 

Chicago  City  Club,  op.  cit.  I  am  indebted  to  this  report,  also,  for 
the  general  interpretation  of  the  efficiency  of  trade  union  employment 
agencies. 

Thus  even  for  the  workers  who  are  members  of  unions  there  is  no  great 
and  general  success  in  the  organization  of  the  labor  market.  The  trade 
union  employment  agency  comes  very  far  from  organizing  the  market  in 
the  way  the  students  of  unemployment  demand  that  it  should  be  organized 
in  order  to  prevent  unemployment. 

The  trade  union  employment  agencies  have  confined  their  efforts  almost 
entirely  to  the  locality  in  which  they  are  organized, 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  p.  164;  Chicago  City  Club,  op.  cit. 

and  some  unions  have  reported  that  they  would  welcome  an  agency  which 
could  do  the  inter-communal  work. 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  163,  171. 

Information  in  regard  to  demands  for  labor  in  this  wider  territory  is 
secured  in  some  unions  through  weekly  or  monthly  publications,  but  the 
information  is  seldom  specific  or  concrete;  information  is  secured,  also,  by 
reports  from  traveling  members,  correspondence  of  the  secretaries,  and  from 
the  requests  of  other  unions  and  of  employers;  but  this  information,  also, 
is  generally  haphazard  and  vague.  Membership  in  the  union  is  frequently 
taken  as  sufficient  guarantee  to  justify  the  advancement  from  the  union 
treasury  of  traveling  expenses  to  unemployed  members;  some  unions  report 
that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  payment  of  these  loans,  while 
in  other  unions  not  more  than  half  of  the  loans  are  paid. 

Statistics  on  this  point  in  the  American  Flint  Glass  Workers  Union 
have  been  published  for  the  period  from  1903  to  1913;  only  about  half 
of  the  amount  advanced  by  the  union  in  that  time  for  car  fare  of 
members  has  been  paid.  American  Flint,  4:8-9,  Oct.,  '13. 

Thus  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  trade  union  employment  agencies 
have  failed  to  organize  the  labor  market  in  the  communities  in  which  they 
are  located  and  have  done  almost  nothing  in  securing  an  inter-communal 
organization.  The  general  solution  of  the  problem  of  unemployment  is 
not  their  objective;  consequently  they  have  restricted  their  efforts  in  such 
ways  as  to  build  up  distinct  centers,  between  which  there  is  no  co-operation, 
and  which  are  in  competition  with  the  other  kinds  of  agencies  in  so  far  as 
these  other  agencies  attempt  to  deal  in  the  same  kind  of  labor.  Moreover, 
these  centers,  segregated  as  they  are,  are  not  available  for  large  classes  of 
the  workers  because  of  non-membership  in  the  unions;  thus  the  unskilled 
workers,  for  whom  institutional  assistance  is  most  necessary,  are  injured  by 
these  agencies  and  their  unemployment  is  increased. 

The  employers,  also,  have  established  and  maintained  agencies,  but  the 
object  of  such  agencies  is  not  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  unemployment; 
it  is  rather  to  assist  the  employers  in  securing  and  controlling  employes. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 121 

There  are  various  types  of  agencies  under  the  control  of  employers. 
Many  employers  maintain  employment  agencies  in  which  they  hire  workers 
for  their  own  establishments;  but  evidently  such  agencies  mean  merely  that 
the  work  of  hiring  workers  for  the  establishment  is  systematized,  and  on 
that  account  they  hardly  come  within  the  scope  of  employment  agencies  as 
ordinarily  understood.  Some  of  the  railroads  have  assisted  farmers  in  secur- 
ing workers  for  the  harvests,  using  their  local  representatives  as  employ- 
ment agents. 

F.  Andrews,  Railroads  and  Farming,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture, 
Bureau  of  Statistics,  Bulletin  100:32-33,  Oct.  29,  '12. 

Some  of  the  women's  leagues  and  guilds,  also  co-operate  to  secure 
domestic  servants  for  their  own  use,  and  some  of  them  extend  these  efforts 
to  assist  other  householders. 

Kellor,  op.  cit.,  pp.  154-59. 

But  the  only  important  employers'  agencies  are  those  maintained  by 
employers'  associations. 

The  purpose  of  the  agencies  maintained  by  employers'  associations  is 
avowedly  to  secure  help  without  dependence  on  trade  unions,  and,  in  addi- 
tion, most  of  the  associations  which  support  agencies  are  anti-union  and  open 
shop  organizations.  Consequently  when  these  agencies  attempt  -to  secure 
permanent  records  of  large  numbers  of  workers,  as  in  the  Detroit  Employ- 
ers' Association  Agency,  which  has  records  of  over  100,000  workers,  the 
unions  regard  them  as  merely  systematized  blacklists.  The  officials  of  such 
associations  generally  prefer  to  call  them  white-lists, 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  p.  283. 
though  some  of  the  officials  have  referred  to  them  as  black-lists. 

Quoted  from  W.  E.  Walling  by  H.  T.  Lewis,  Journ.  Pol.  EC., 
20:934,  1912. 

The  constitutions  of  these  associations  generally  state  that  the  agency 
is  to  be  an  impartial  and  disinterested  institution,  and  that  no  discriminations 
are  to  be  made  against  applicants  because  of  membership  or  non-membership 
in  unions. 

Several  such  constitutions  are  given  in  Massachusetts  Labor  Bulle- 
tin, March,  1904. 

But  much  doubt  is  thrown  on  these  statements  by  such  facts  as  that  the 
Boston  Employers'  Association,  which  has  as  one  of  its  objects  the  main- 
tenance of  the  open  shop,  requires  applicants  at  its  agency  to  state  whether 
they  are  members  of  unions; 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  78. 

that  the  members  of  such  associations  send  to  the  agency  a  statement  of 
the  reasons  for  which  employes  are  discharged,  and  prominence  in  the  union 
or  in  an  agitation  for  union  principles  would  undoubtedly  be  deemed  sufficient 
cause  for  discharge;  that  a  legislative  committee  in  Illinois  appointed  to 
investigate  the  garment  workers'  strike  in  Chicago  in  1911  found  that  ap- 
plicants to  the  bureaus  maintained  by  the  National  Wholesale  Tailors'  Asso- 
ciation and  the  Wholesale  Clothiers'  Association  in  Chicago  could  not  secure 
positions  if  they  had  been  discharged  by  other  members  of  the  Association, 
and  that  these  agencies  had  more  to  do,  in  the  judgment  of  this  committee, 
with  causing  the  discontent  of  the  garment  workers  than  all  other  causes 
combined,  and  that  it  would,  therefore,  be  advisable  to  use  legal  power  to  dis- 
solve such  agencies; 

Illinois,  Report  of  Committee  Appointed  by  Senate  Resolution 
No.  15,  Jan.  15,  1911,  to  Investigate  the  Garment  Workers'  Strike  in 
Chicago,  pp.  5-7. 

and  that  the  Lake  Carriers'  Association,  according  to  the  statements  of  union 
officials,  after  establishing  a  system  of  agencies  under  their  own  control,  in 
which  they  assured  the  public  that  there  would  be  no  discrimination  against 
union  members,  began  to  demand  that  union  members  hand  over  their  union 


122  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

cards;  when  this  was  met  by  the  issuance  of  duplicate  cards  by  the  union  so 
that  the  members  could  surrender  their  cards  without  inconvenience,  the 
.Association  compelled  their  employes  to  sign  one  of  the  two  following  state- 
ments: "I  am  a  union  man"  or  "I  am  a  non-union  man";  the  union  in- 
structed its  members  to  sign  the  latter  statement;  then  the  Carriers  required 
their  employes  to  swear  that  they  would  renounce  their  allegiance  to  the 
union  and  would  never  join  a  union  as  long  as  they  worked  on  the  vessels 
of  the  Great  Lakes  for  a  living. 

Victor  Olander,  in  7th  Biennial  Report  of  Indiana  Labor  Com- 
mission, 1909-10,  pp.  9-37. 

Such  facts  would  indicate  that  the  agencies  of  this  type  are  necessarily  con- 
fined to  non-union  workers,  or  those  workers  who,  if  union  members,  are 
willing  to  conceal  the  fact.  The  primary  object  of  such  agencies  appears  to 
be  to  sift  the  applicants  for  employment,  not  to  decrease  the  amount  of 
unemployment. 

Moreover,  the  agencies  maintained  by  employers'  associations  generally 
restrict  their  efforts  to  the  assistance  of  the  members  of  the  association, 
though  in  some  cases  they  assist  other  employers.  But  these  agencies  do  not 
form  the  only  channel  through  which  employes  are  secured  by  the  mem- 
bers of  an  association,  for  of  the  employes  hired  by  members  of  the  asso- 
ciation, only  52.9  per  cent  were  secured  by  the  agency  of  the  Detroit  Em- 
ployers' Association  in  1911,  41.1  per  cent  by  the  Providence  Metal  Trades 
Association,  and  39.8  per  cent  by  the  agency  maintained  jointly  by  the  In- 
dianapolis Employers'  Association  and  the  Indianapolis  Metal  Trades  Asso- 
ciation. 

Sargent,  op.  cit.,  pp.  44,  87,  120. 

Thus  these  agencies  fail  to  prevent  the  individual  applications  at  the  plants 
of  the  members. 

Some  of  these  agencies  operate  with  little  variation  in  the  amount  of 
business,  others,  though  open  continuously,  are  practically  inoperative  ex- 
cept during  strikes,  while  others  are  open  only  during  strikes.  Moreover, 
these  agencies  sometimes  hire  workers  to  take  the  places  of  strikers  with- 
out revealing  to  them  the  nature  of  the  positions  that  are  offered.  Conse- 
quently the  workers  may  be  sent  to  distant  communities,  and,  when  they 
learn  the  nature  of  the  positions,  be  left  stranded  if  they  refuse  to  accept 
them,  or  even  be  confined  to  the  plants  by  peonage. 

United  States,  Peonage  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  Hearings  before 
the  Committee  on  Labor  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  62d  Con- 
gress, 1st  Session;  Minnesota,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of 
Labor,  1909-10,  pp.  29-50. 

Most  of  these  agencies  confine  their  work  to  the  local  community,  but 
some  of  the  national  associations  have  agencies  which  are  of  assistance,  so 
far  as  possible,  to  any  local  association;  for  instance,  the  National  Found- 
ers' Association  in  Chicago  reports  that  it  sends  about  95  per  cent  of  the 
applicants  who  are  accepted  out  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  But  there  seems  to 
be  little  extensive  work  in  inter-local  placement  except  during  strikes.  Such 
agencies  are  certainly  not  organized  with  a  view  to  the  continuous  employ- 
ment of  the  workers,  except  in  so  far  as  the  member  of  the  association  is 
concerned. 

Consequently  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  agencies  under  the  control 
of  the  employers'  association  have  no  purpose  that  would  involve  a  general 
solution  of  the  problem  of  unemployment;  they  have,  rather,  the  purpose 
of  assisting  the  members  of  the  association  in  securing  workers.  The  work- 
ers for  whom  they  are  of  value  are  restricted  not  only  to  those  trades  in 
which  the  association  is  formed,  but  also  by  certain  principles  of  the  em- 
ployers with  reference  to  trade  unionism.  The  agency  does  not  attempt  to 
become  a  center  for  an  entire  trade,  but  only  for  the  members  of  the  asso- 
ciation; and  even  in  becoming  such  a  center,  it  is  not  the  only  method  used 
by  the  members  to  secure  their  employes;  thus  the  agency  does  not  control 
the  distribution  of  labor  even  to  the  members  of  the  association.  These 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 123 

agencies  do  not  operate  continuously  in  some  cases,  and  in  many  cases  are 
merely  a  means  of  securing  strike-breakers.  As  a  class  these  agencies  are 
limited  in  their  activities  to  one  community.  Consequently  they  have  failed 
to  set  up  a  central  agency  in  which  the  entire  labor  market  can  find  ex- 
pression, but  they  have  added  to  the  series  of  distinct  and  non-co-operating 
agencies;  they  do  not  secure  complete  and  continuous  information  in  regard 
either  to  the  demand  for  labor  or  the  supply  of  labor  in  general  or  in  any 
particular  occupation  or  trade,  or  in  any  one  community,  to  say  nothing  of 
wider  territory. 

These  various  kinds  of  non-public  employment  agencies,  therefore,  have 
failed  to  organize  the  labor  market  in  accordance  with  the  ideal  posited  by 
the  students  of  unemployment.  They  have  set  up  distinct  centers,  for  par- 
ticular classes  of  employers  or  employes,  with  local,  occupational,  racial  and 
other  limitations,  operating  on  a  small  scale,  not  at  all  commensurate  with 
modern  large-scale  production.  Between  these  centers  there  is  little  co-op- 
eration, and  there  seems  to  be  no  possibility  of  securing  such  co-operation,  be- 
cause of  the  various  and  conflicting  purposes  and  ideals  of  those  in  control; 
consequently  no  one  of  these  types  of  agencies  can  serve  as  a  center  into 
which  the  others  can  pour  their  surplus  demands  or  supplies.  None  of  these 
agencies  is  attempting  to  deal  with  the  unemployment  situation  as  a  whole; 
all  are  interested  in  the  unemployed  individual.  But  instead  of  setting  up 
a  central  agency,  they  are  often  in  fierce  competition  which  would  make 
combined  action  impossible.  The  union  agencies  increase  the  unemployment 
of  the  persons  not  members;  the  agencies  of  employers'  associations  increase 
the  unemployment  of  those  deemed  undesirable;  both  of  these  agencies  are 
for  the  purpose  of  sifting  the  employes  rather  than  of  preventing  unem- 
ployment. In  other  agencies,  also,  there  is  a  tendency  to  increase  unemploy- 
ment, by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they  specialize  in  casual  occupations  and 
short-time  positions;  thus  it  becomes  easy  to  get  into  such  occupations  but  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  get  out,  and  this  difficulty  is  increased  by  the  break-down 
of  habits  of  industry  while  engaged  in  casual  occupations.  The  records 
of  these  agencies  in  general  are  inaccurate  and,  even  if  they  could  be  thrown 
together,  would  not  be  adequate  to  furnish  comprehensive  and  definite  in- 
formation that  would  guide  the  workers  in  their  search  for  employment. 
The  methods  of  operation  are  generally  unsystematic,  and  involve  much 
waste  of  time  and  energy  of  the  unemployed,  and  frequently  are  such  as 
to  subject  the  unemployed  to  many  kinds  of  abuses.  Some  writers  have 
stated  that  the  existing  agencies  are  adequate  within  any  one  city  for  the 
purposes  of  that  city, 

Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  7-9. 

but  there  seems  to  be  a  very  general  consensus  of  opinion  that  the  existing 
agencies  fail  utterly  in  adjusting  demand  and  supply  over  a  large  area. 

CHAPTER   IV. 


FUNCTIONING    OF    PUBLIC    EMPLOYMENT    AGENCIES    IN    THE 

UNITED   STATES. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  private  employment  agencies  emphasizes  the  need 
of  organization  of  the  labor  market,  and  thus  increases  the  responsibility 
of  the  public  employment  agencies.  But  what  probability  is  there  that  this 
assigned  function  can  be  adequately  performed  by  the  public  agencies?  The 
first  step  in  answering  this  question  is  to  learn  what  degree  of  success  the 
public  agencies  have  had  and  to  analyze  the  causes  of  success  or  failure. 

On  public  employment  agencies  in  general,  see,  in  addition  to 
the  reports  of  the  various  agencies,  the  excellent  summaries  by  J.  E. 
Conner,  Free  Employment  Offices  in  the  United  States,  Bulletin  of 
United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  68,  pp.  1-115,  Jan.,  '07;  Frank  B. 


124  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

Sargent,  Statistics  of  Unemployment  and  the  Work  of  Employment 
Offices,  Bulletin  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  109,  pp.  34-140, 
Oct.  9,  '12. 

Aside  from  places  fixed  in  the  markets  where  employers  and  employees 
might  meet  to  make  contracts  of  employment, 

Such  an  informal  provision  for  assisting  the  unemployed  was 
made  in  New  York  City  by  an  ordinance  of  1834.  United  States,  Re- 
port on  Condition  of  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners  in  the  United 
States,  Vol.  IX,  p.  25,  foot  note. 

there  were  no  public  employment  agencies  in  the  United  States  previous  to 
1890,  and  not  even  an  agitation  for  such  provision  before  1887.  In  this  earlier 
period  studies  were  made  of  unemployment  and  of  industrial  depressions, 
to  be  s«re, 

Hewitt,  Report  on  the  Causes  of  the  General  Depression  in  Labor 
and  Business,  45th  Congress,  3rd  Session,  H.  R.  Doc.  No.  29,  1879; 
Blair,  Committee  Report  of  1883  on  Labor  and  Capital;  United  States, 
1st  Annual  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  on  Industrial  Depres- 
sions, 1886;  State  Censuses  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  1885; 
Report  of  Special  Committee  on  Labor  in  Illinois  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 1879. 

but  the  proposals  for  remedies  centered  on  such  things  as  currency,  tariff, 
land  laws,  hours  of  labor  and  abolition  of  machinery.  The  general  tendency 
of  these  remedies  was  to  increase  the  total  amount  of  work  to  be  done  in 
the  country,  or  to  decrease  the  output  of  the  individual  workman.  The 
first  definite  recorded  agitation  for  public  employment  agencies  was  made  in 
Colorado  in  1887,  and  a  bill  for  that  purpose  was  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  Colorado  in  1889,  but  failed  to  become  a  law. 

Colorado,  House  Journal,  1889,  p.  388;  Colorado,  1st  Biennial  Re- 
port of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1887-88,  pp.  368-69;  Colorado,  3rd 
Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1891-92,  pp.  162-63. 
The  first  public  agencies  actually  established  were  those  in  Ohio  in  1890, 
in  the  control  of  the   Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.     Since   1890  seventy-nine 
public   employment   agencies   have    been   started,   under   municipal,    state    or 
federal  control; 

This  does  not  include  a  number  of  agencies  in  Kansas  and  Wis- 
consin which,  without  formal  organization,  have  assisted  in  securing 
harvest-hands. 

of  these,  sixty-seven  are  in  operation  at  the  present  time,  located  in  twenty- 
three  different  states.  The  state  agencies  are  generally  in  control  of  the 
bureaus  of  labor  statistics,  departments  of  labor  or  similar  bodies,  though 
Wisconsin  has  had  and  New  York  still  has  public  employment  agencies  con- 
trolled by  the  state  department  of  agriculture.  The  municipal  offices  are 
managed  and  controlled  directly  by  municipal  councils,  or  indirectly  by 
boards.  The  federal  offices  are  maintained  by  the  Bureau  of  Immigration 
of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

The    following    tables    show    the    development    and    present    distribution 
of  the  state  free  employment  agencies: 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


125 


State  Employment  Agencies:    Date  of  Passage  of  First  Acts. 


State. 


Date  of  Passage  of  First  Acts. 


Ohio    

Montana  (a)  . 
New  York  (b) 
Nebraska  .... 

Illinois    

Missouri     

Connecticut    . . 
Kansas    (c)    . . , 
West   Virginia 
Wisconsin   .... 

Maryland 

Michigan 

Minnesota 
New   York    (d). 
Massachusetts 

Colorado 

Rhode  Island  ., 
Oklahoma 
Indiana    


(a)  Law  repealed  and  agency  discontinued  in  1897. 

(b)  Law  repealed  and  agency  discontiuued   in   1906. 

(c)  The  Kansas  system  is  a  combination  of  state  and  municipal  control. 

(d)  Under  control  of  state  department  of  agriculture. 

These  acts,  as  first  passed,  have  been  enlarged  and  modified  by  amend- 
ments, and  the  appropriation  of  additional  funds  has  made  possible  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  agencies  in  several  of  the  states.  The  following 
table  shows  the  date  of  establishment  of  each  of  the  state  agencies. 


State  Employment  Agencies:   Cities  and  States  of  Location,  and  Date  of  Es- 
tablishment of  the  Agency. 


State. 

City. 

Date  of  Establishment. 

1890 

Cleveland           i 

1890 

Columbus    

1890 

Dayton     

1890 

Toledo  

1890 

Helena   (a)    

1895 

New    York    (b)                .  . 

New  York   

1896 

1897 

Illinois      

Chicago,  3   offices  

1899 

Peoria  

1901 

Bast   St.    Louis    

1907 

Springfield    

1909 

St    Louis    

1899 

Kansas  City   

1899 

St.  Joseph    

1901 

Connecticut      

Bridgeport  

1901 

Hartford  

1901 

New    Haven    

1901 

Norwich      

1901 

Waterbury   

1901 

Kansas    (c)     .  .    ... 

Topeka      

1901 

W^est    Virginia         ... 

Wheeling      

1901 

"Wisconsin       •     

Milwaukee               

1901 

Superior  

1903 

La    Crosse     

1904 

Oshkosh   

1904 

Maryland  

Baltimore   

1902 

Michigan  

Detroit       

1905 

Grand    Rapids    

1905 

Kalamazoo  

1907 

Saginaw  

1907 

Jackson  

1908 

Minnesota  

1905 

Duluth   

1907 

St.    Paul     . 

1907 

126 


REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


State  Employment  Agencies:    Cities  and  States  of  Location,  and  Date  of  Establish- 
ment of  the  Agency     Cont'd 


State. 

City. 

Date  of  Establishment. 

New    York    (d)  

New    York    

1905 

Boston       .  . 

1906 

Fall    River    

1907 

Springfield   

1907 

Colorado    Springs    

1907 

1907 

Pueblo  

1907 

Rhode    Island    

Providence  

1908 

Oklahoma       

Oklahoma  City   (e)  

1908 

Muskogee  

1909 

Enid  

1910 

Indiana          

Indianapolis         

1909 

Evansville      

1911 

Port    \Vayne    

1911 

South    Bend    

1911 

Terre   Haute    

1911 

(a)  Agency  discontinued  in  1897  by  repeal  of  law. 

(b)  Agency  discontinued  in  1906  by  repeal  of  law. 

(c)  According  to  the  reports  there  is  but  one  agency  in  the  state  at  present, 
though  in  previous  years  there  have  been  several. 

(d)  The  first  office  in  Oklahoma  was  located  in  Guthrie  from  July  1,  1908  to 
September  18,  1908,  when  it  was  moved  to  Oklahoma  City. 

This  table  shows  that  state  employment  agencies,  have  been  established 
in  eighteen  states  by  legislative  enactments,  and  that  such  agencies  are  now 
in  operation  in  seventeen  states,  with  a  total  of  fifty-one  employment  agencies 
now  active. 

In  addition,  public  employment  agencies  have  been  opened  in  eight 
states  by  state  officials,  without  specific  legislative  enactment;  they  were 
controlled  by  the  state  bureaus  of  labor  statistics,  except  in  Wisconsin, 
where  they  were  maintained  by  the  department  of  agriculture.  The  fol- 
lowing table  shows  the  dates  at  which  such  offices  began  operations. 

State  Employment  Agencies  Not  Specifically  Authorized. 


State. 


North    Carolina    

Iowa     

California    

Maryland     

Missouri     

West    Virginia    

Michigan — two    offices. 
Wisconsin    


Date  of  Beginning  Operations. 


1893 
1895 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1897 
1901 
1907 


Most  of  these  offices  were  in  operation  for  only  a  few  months;  none 
of  them  are  in  existence,  as  such,  at  the  present  time.  In  Missouri  and 
West  Virginia  they  received  a  legal  sanction  and  became  authorized  agencies. 
In  Maryland  and  Michigan  they  were  discontinued  after  a  short  period  of 
activity  and  were"  revived  later  by  legal  enactment.  In  North  Carolina,  Iowa 
and  California  they  were  entirely  discontinued.  In  Wisconsin  the  work  was 
turned  over  to  the  county  clerks  in  1910. 

Sixteen  municipal  employment  agencies  have  been  established,  of  which 
thirteen  are  still  in  existence  as  municipal  agencies,  two  have  become  state 
agencies  and  one  has  been  abolished.  The  following  table  shows  the  dates 
of  establishment  of  these  municipal  agencies. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


127 


Municipal  Employment  Agencies:     City  and  Date  of  Establishment. 


City. 


Los  Angeles,  Calif,    (a) , 

Seattle,    Wash 

Superior,    Wis.    (b) 

Duluth,  Minn,    (c) 

Sacramento,    Calif,    (d) , 

Butte,    Mont 

Tacoma,    Wash 

Great  Falls,  Mont 

Spokane,   Wash , 

Everett,    Wash 

Wellesley,    Mass 

Newark,   N.    J , 

Portland,    Ore 

Kansas   City,   Mo 

Schenectady,  N.  Y 

Berkeley,   Calif , 


Date  of  Establishment. 

1893 
1894 
1899 
1901 
1902 
1902 
1904 
1905 
1905 
1908 
1908 
1909 
1909 
1910 
1912 
1913 


(a)  Under  joint  control  of  city  and  county  1893-1905;  of  city  1905-10;  of  United 

Charities  1910-13:  in  1913  a  municipal  charities  commission  was  appointed, 
one  of  whose  duties  was  the  maintenance  of  such  a  municipal  employ- 
ment agency. 

(b)  Became  a  state  office  in   1901. 

(c)  Became  a  state  office  in  1907. 

(d)  Abolished  after  a  few  years,  the  exact  date  not  being  ascertainable. 

The  Division  of  Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  was  created 
in  1907,  and  under  its  control  employment  agencies  have  been  opened  in 
New  York  in  1907,  in  Baltimore  in  1908,  and  Galveston  in  1909;  an  office  was 
opened  for  a  short  time  in  Chicago  but  was  soon  abandoned. 

There  is  a  bill  in  the  United  States  Congress  at  present  to  estab- 
lish a  bureau  of  the  unemployed  and  to  maintain  under  its  control 
federal  employment  agencies.  J.  Eads  How  is  reported  to  be  sponsor 
for  it. 

The  method  used  by  these  agencies  to  show  their  efficiency  is  to  present 
the  number  of  applications  for  employment  and  for  help,  and  the  number  of 
positions  filled.  The  following  table  contains  the  totals  for  each  agency  for 
the  last  year  for  which  reports  are  accessible. 

These  reports  are  for  years  as  follows:  Municipal  agency  in 
Everett  and  Spokane,  1909;  municipal  agencies  in  Butte,  Great  Fallo, 
Tacoma,  Seattle  and  Portland  for  1910;  state  agencies  of  Illinois,  Ohio, 
Maryland,  Massachusetts,  New  York  and  Oklahoma,  and  municipal 
agencies  in  Newark  and  Kansas  City  for  1911;  state  agencies  of  In- 
diana, Connecticut,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Colorado,  Michigan,  Kansas, 
Nebraska  and  Rhole  Island,  and  the  federal  agencies  for  1912;  munici- 
pal agency  in  Berkeley  for  1913. 


Public  Employment  Agencies:    Applications   for  Employment  and  for   Help 

and  Positions  Secured. 


Kind  of  Control  and 
Location  of  Offices. 

Applications  for 

Positions 
Secured. 

Employment. 

Help. 

State   Employment  Agencies  

343,999 
is.4?« 
4,913 
6,439 
7,074 
8,914 
2,725 
1,854 
1,970 
500 
1,555 

Colorado     

26,835 
9  580 
7,176 
10,079 
14,146 
3,773 
3  341 

23,446 
5,296 
7,183 
10,967 
10,914 
3,382 
2.825 
2,757 
627 
1,823 

Denver    

Colorado   Springs    

Pueblo     

Connecticut     

Bridgeport     

Hartford       

New    Haven    

3,584 
754 
2,694 

Norwich      

W^aterbury     

128 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 


Public    Employment    Agencies:    Applications    for    Employment,  and    for   Help    and 

Positions  Secured — Cont'd 


Kind  of  Control  and 
Location  of  Offices. 


Applications  for 


Employment 


Help. 


Positions 
Secured. 


Illinois    76,127 

Chicago,    South    Side 13,931 

Chicago,    North   Side 22,835 

Chicago,  West  Side 12,734 

Peoria     11,630 

East    St.    Louis 8,675 

Springfield     6,322 

Indiana     29,797 

Indianapolis    17,560 

Evansville     1,665 

Fort    Wayne     3,378 

Terre    Haute 4,879 

South    Bend    2,315 

Kansas    (a)     5,025 

Maryland     780 

Massachusetts    54,259 

Boston     40,114 

Fall  River   3,582 

Springfield     10,563 

Michigan    62,388 

Detroit    34,869 

Grand    Rapids    14,452 

Jackson    5,128 

Kalamazoo     4,190 

Saginaw    3,749 

Minnesota    53,420 

Duluth     13,230 

Minneapolis     24,716 

St.    Paul    15,474 

Missouri    18,899 

Kansas  City    7,024 

St.    Louis    8,361 

St.   Joseph    3,514 

Nebraska   

New  York,   Dept.   of  Ag 

Ohio     i 75,034 

Cincinnati    11,213 

Cleveland     27,233 

Columbus    15,225 

Dayton      10,731 

Toledo     10,632 

Oklahoma    53,870 

Enid     3,954 

Muskogee     3,915 

Oklahoma   City    46,001 

Rhode    Island    3,539 

West  Virginia    2,205 

Wisconsin    (c)    

La  Crosse    

Milwaukee  

Oshkosh    

Superior    

Municipal    Employment    Agencies 

Berkeley    

Kansas  City   

Butte    7,244 

Great  Falls   605 

Newark 6,210 

Portland   

Everett 

Seattle 

Spokane   

Tacoma   

Federal  Agencies — three   


Total  United   States 


68,228 

17,363 

11,428 

12,177 

12,046 

8,660 

6,554 

28,596 

15,329 

2,403 

3,339 

4,786 

2,739 

20,437 

245 

30,632 

22,816 

1,640 

6,176 

61,162 

37,176 

13,847 

4,371 

3,070 

2,698 

55,323 

14,078 

25,771 

15,474 

33,279 

21,923 

7,472 

3,884 


50,125 
10,808 

9,603 
10,957 
11,595 

7,162 
22,841 

3,013 

2,907 
16,921 

'  2,539 


5,262 
143 


22,803  (c) 


59,827 

13,037 

10,594 

10,946 

11,197 

8,021 

6,032 

20,483 

11,153 

1,445 

2,509 

3,834 

1,542 

3,284 

64 

21,158 

15,806 

1,042 

4,310 

54,205 

34,869 

11,665 

3,189 

2,752 

1,730 

53,370 

13,230 

24,666 

15,474 

15,165 

5,656 

6,407 

3,102 

647 

4,658 

47,906 

10,269 

9,377 

10,957 

10,403 

6,900 

14,942 

2,735 

3,131 

9,076 

2,087 

1,936 

16,296 

2,138 

5,235 

1,936 

6,987 

108,676 

481 

13,835 

4,388 

118 

2,755 

28,214 

4,450 

38,846 

5,179 

10,410 

5,807 

467,751 


(b) 


(d) 


(a)  Exclusive  of  work  of  offices  outside  of  state,  some  of  which  are  included  in 

this   report. 

(b)  For  eighteen  months. 

(c)  For  eight  months. 

(d)  For  three  months. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 129 

Before  these  figures  can  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  the  efficiency  of 
the  public  employment  agencies  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  more  specifically 
into  the  methods  by  which  they  have  been  secured  and  into  their  deeper 
meaning.  Such  an  inquiry  reveals  very  great  inaccuracies  in  these  reports. 
The  number  of  positions  reported  filled  is  deficient,  first,  in  not  includ- 
ing all  positions  filled  through  the  assistance  of  the  agencies,  and,  secondly, 
in  including  many  positions  which  are  not  actually  filled.  The  first  error 
seems,  however,  to  be  very  slight,  while  the  latter  is  very  large.  The  failure 
to  include  all  the  work  done  by  the  agency  is  due  to  the  fact  that  applica- 
tions are  sometimes  made  for  large  numbers  of  casual  workers,  and  the 
information  is  merely  distributed  by  the  public  agency  without  attempt  to 
keep  account  of  the  number  of  persons  who  are  assisted  by  such  informa- 
tion, and  also  to  the  fact  that  in  some  states,  such  as  Kansas,  the  demands 
for  labor  are  published  in  the  newspapers  and,  though  these  published  ac- 
counts are  of  value  in  the  distribution  of  labor,  they  make  it  impossible  to 
measure  the  efficiency  of  the  agencies. 

Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1909-10,  p.  194;  Kansas,  12th  Annual  Report  of  Director  of  Free  Em- 
ployment Bureau,  1912,  p.  9;  Sargent,  loc,  cit.,  p.  82. 
On  the  other  hand  the  reported  number  of  positions  filled  is  in  almost 
all  offices  very  much  larger  than  the  number  of  positions  actually  filled,  or, 
at  least,  very  many  positions  which  are  reported  filled  are  found  on  investi- 
gation not  to  have  been  filled.  When  an  applicant  for  employment  is  sent 
to  a  position,  there  is  no  direct  and  immediate  evidence  that  the  position 
has  been  filled;  moreover  the  process  of  verification  is  difficult  and  expen- 
sive. The  laws  of  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska,  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island  have  provided  that  the  employer  must  notify  the  employment 
agency  within  a  specified  time  whether  the  applicant  who  was  sent  to  him 
was  hired,  on  penalty,  for  failure  to  do  so,  of  losing  the  right  to  future 
services  of  the  public  employment  agency;  in  Indiana  a  fine  of  $100  is  im- 
posed, according  to  the  statutes,  on  employers  who  fail  to  give  such  re- 
ports to  the  public  employment  agencies.  These  laws  are  not  enforced, 
however,  and  the  general  practice  is  to  send  with  the  applicant  for  employ- 
ment a  card  which  is  to  be  filled  out  and  returned  by  the  employer  to  the 
public  employment  agency.  Some  agencies  have  reported  that  the  employ- 
ers in  about  75  per  cent  of  the  cases  return  such  information,  others  that 
about  40  per  cent,  and  others  that  none  do  so.  Consequently  it  has  been 
necessary  to  supplement  these  cards  by  telephone  messages,  mail  or  mes- 
sengers in  order  to  secure  verification.  But  this  verification  is  difficult,  the 
facilities  are  generally  inadequate  and  the  result  has  been  in  most  agencies 
that  every  person  who  is  sent  from  the  agency  to  a  position  reported  vacant 
is  recorded  as  securing  the  position  unless  definite  information  to  the  con- 
trary is  received, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  13,  44,  36;  Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  93;  Kansas, 
6th  Annual  Report  of  Director  of  Free  Employment  Bureau,  1906, 
p.  3. 

and  since  the  agencies  succeed  in  verifying  only  a  part  of  the  recorded  place- 
ments,  there   is   a   qonsiderable   discrepancy. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  13,  23,  45,  61,  80. 

It  is  on  this  account  that  the  records  of  some  agencies  show  that  more 
positions  have  been  secured  than  there  were  applications  for  help. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  32;  Maryland,  13th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau 
of  Statistics,  1904,  p.  23. 

and   that  there  is  in   many  reports  an   exact  equivalence  of  the   number   of 
positions  reported  filled  and  the  number  of  demands  for  help. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  20,  44-45;  Minnesota,  13th  Biennial  Report  of 
Bureau  of  Labor,  1911-12,  pp.  365-67;  Ohio,  34th  Annual  Report  of 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1910,  pp.  464  ff.;  Rhode  Island,  25th  An- 
nual Report  of  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics.  1911,  p.  135;  Wisconsin, 
12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1905-06,  pp.  1348  ff. 


130 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


This  discrepancy  between  positions  reported  filled  and  positions  act- 
ually filled  is  due  to  the  failure  of  some  applicants  for  employment  to  go  to 
the  position  offered — and  this  is  one  cause  of  complaint,  even  by  the  private 
employment  agencies,  after  registration  fees  have  been  paid — to  the  failure 
of  the  employer  and  employee  to  make  a  satisfactory  bargain,  or  to  the 
filling  of  the  position  in  some  other  way.  In  Chicago  some  of  the  appli- 
cants for  employment  secure  cards  from  the  state  agency,  referring  them 
to  positions,  and  then  use  those  cards  as  means  of  begging,  nominally  for 
car  fare  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  place  of  work.  But  some  agencies  have 
made  claims  that  they  record  no  position  as  filled  until  they  have  received 
definite  information  of  that  fact.  It  has  been  generally  acknowledged  that 
the  Massachusetts  state  employment  agencies  have  had,  in  this  respect,  by 
far  the  most  accurate  methods  of  any  agencies  in  the  country, 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  118; 
Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  64. 

and  the  superintendents  maintain  that  they  are  superior  to  other  agencies 
in  the  accuracy  of  their  records,  and  that  their  reports  of  positions  filled 
are  safely  within  the  facts  and  accurate  so  far  as  they  go. 

Massachusetts,    1st    Annual    Report    of    Free    Employment    Offices, 
1907,  p.  7. 

The  Massachusetts  Commission  to  Investigate  Employment  Offices,  in 
order  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  reports  of  efficiency,  secured  from  the 
superintendents  the  names  of  workers  who  were  reported  as  securing  posi- 
tions in  one  month,  and  two  or  three  months  later  made  inquiries  in  regard 
to  them  of  the  employers  who  were  reported  as  having  hired  them.  This 
Commission  found  that  from  14  to  36  per  cent  of  the  persons  reported  as 
securing  employment  were  not  hired.  The  results  appear  in  the  following 
table: 

Massachusetts  Employment  Agencies:     Percentages  of  Applicants  for 
Employment  Reported  Hired  Who  Were  Actually  Hired. 


Agency. 

Number  of 
Applicants 
Reported 
Hired  Who 
Were  Heard 
From. 

Percent  of  Applicants  Who  Were: 

Hired. 

Not  Hired 

Total. 

Did  Not 
Apply. 

Not  Remem- 
bered to 
Have  Ap- 
plied. 

Applied 
But  Not 
Hired. 

Boston         ..... 

421 
189 
56. 

64.2% 
80.4% 
85.7% 

35.8% 
19.6% 
14.3% 

14.2% 
1.1% 

19.7% 

14.8% 
10.7% 

1.9% 
3.7% 
3.6% 

Springfield    
Fall    River    .  .  . 

Massachusetts,  Report  of  Commission  to  Investigate  Employment 
Offices,  1911,  p.  75. 

If  the  findings  of  the  Commissioner  were  correct, 

This  Commission  made  personal  inquiries  of  the  employers  in 
Boston,  and  inquiries  by  correspondence  of  the  employers  in  the  other 
cities.  The  examination  was  made  in  Boston  two  months  after  the 
month  in  which  the  positions  were  reported  filled,  and  in  Springfield 
and  Fall  River  three  months  after  the  positions  were  reported  filled. 
There  is  no  statement  in  the  report  of  the  Commission  in  regard  to 
the  accuracy  with  which  employers  made  their  replies. 

it  is  very  certain  that  the  reports  of  the  agencies  in  other  states  would  show 
a  very  much  greater  error  than  this.  It  is  safe,  at  least,  to  conclude  that  the 
agencies  have  reported  very  many  positions  as  filled  which  have  not  been 
filled,  and  that  the  reported  efficiency  of  these  offices  has  been  very  much 
exaggerated. 

But  even  if  these  reports  of  the  number  of  positions  filled  were  accurate, 
they  would  not  show  the  efficiency  of  the  agencies.  The  absolute  number 
of  positions  secured  is  in  itself  meaningless,  and  comes  to  have  meaning  only 
when  thrown  into  relation  to  the  amount  of  unemployment  and  the  demand 
for  labor. 


REPORT   OF   THE    MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT  131 

Some  of  the  superintendents  have  stated  that  the  absolute  number 
of  positions  secured  is  the  criterion  of  the  efficiency  of  the  agency. 
Massachusetts,  5th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1911, 
p.  8;  Minnesota,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1909-10, 
p.  570. 

The  realization  of  the  necessity  of  relating  the  number  of  positions  se- 
cured to  other  factors  of  the  situation  has  led  most  agencies  to  give,  also, 
the  number  of  applications  for  help  and  for  employment. 

The  records  of  applications  for  help  are  much  more  accurate  than  the 
records  of  positions  filled,  and  may  generally  be  taken  as  a  relatively  ac- 
curate representation  of  the  demands  made  by  employers  on  such  agencies. 
It  is  evident  that  much  care  in  regard  to  this  item  is  necessary  in  order 
to  conduct  the  business  of  the  agencies,  for  unless  an  accurate  record  of 
the  demands  were  kept,  it  would  be  impossible  to  maintain  the  offices. 
There  is,  however,  some  doubt  as  to  the  accuracy  with  which  the  requests 
for  help  represent  the  actual  needs  of  the  employers;  it  is  reported  that  many 
employers  ask  for  two  or  three  times  as  many  workers  as  are  desired  for 
employment,  in  order  to  have  an  opportunity  to  make  selections.  Conse- 
quently this  practice,  in  so  far  as  carried  on,  vitiates  the  records  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  accurate  representation  of  the  actual  needs  of  industry. 

Massachusetts,  3d  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices, 
1909,  p.  3. 

The  records  of  the  number  of  applications  for  employment  are  very 
deficient  from  the  standpoint  of  a  representation  of  the  extent  of  unem- 
ployment. The  superintendents  generally  register  only  those  persons,  and 
hence  give  only  those  in  their  reports,  for  whom  positions  are  at  the  time 
available.  There  is  no  absolute  refusal  to  register  applicants,  but  there  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  no  incentive  for  the  applicants  to  register.  Many  of  the 
superintendents  have  stated  that  this  is  their  method  and  have  defended  it 
on  the  ground  that  registration  of  all  applicants  would  be  impossible  on  the 
appropriations,  since  many  persons  come  several  times  a  day  looking  for 
employment,  and  that  it  would  be  comparatively  valueless,  even  if  possible. 

Illinois,  10th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1908,  pp. 
83,  89;  Michigan,  23rd  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1906,  p.  300;  Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics, 1909-10,  p.  194;  Conner,  loc.  cit,  pp.  12,  22,  71,  72,  78,  80;  Sar- 
gent, loc.  cit.,  pp.  86,  93,  123. 

To  obviate  this  difficulty  some  of  the  agencies  have  set  a  limit  of  thirty 
days  within  which  the  registration  is  in  force,  unless  the  applicant  secures 
employment  before  the  end  of  that  period. 

See  the  free  employment  agency  laws  of  Missouri,  Minnesota  and 
Rhode  Island.  This  is  the  practice,  also,  in  some  other  states  in  which 
the  laws  do  not  specify  that  it  shall  be  done. 

In  some  other  states  there  has  been  an  attempt  to  correct  this  error 
by  counting' the  number  of  persons  who  come  into  the  office  without  regis- 
tering, but  this  is  entirely  inadequate  since  it  is  based  merely  on  the  memory 
of  the  superintendent.  In  Illinois  more  detailed  and  pertinent  information 
is  secured  from  the  applicants  who  "decline  to  register"  than  from  those 
who  register,  and  the  number  of  such  persons  is  found  to  be  larger  than  the 
number  of  persons  who  register. 

Illinois,  13th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1911, 
pp.  13,  28. 

Because  of  the  failure  to  record  those  who  are  seeking  employment,  but 
for  whom  the  agency  has  no  work  to  offer,  there  is  a  statistical  anomaly  that 
the  number  of  applications  for  employment  decreases  in  years  of  depression 
and  in  months  of  slight  business  activity,  when  it  would  be  expected  that 
the  number  of  applications  would  increase. 

Illinois,  10th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1908, 
p.  1. 


132 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

Consequently  the  number  of  applications  for  employment  has  an  in- 
verse ratio  to  the  actual  amount  of  unemployment.  When  this  error  is  taken 
in  connection  with  the  failure  to  verify  the  number  of  positions  filled,  the 
number  of  positions  reported  filled  becomes  identical  with  the  reported  num- 
ber of  applications  for  employment.  This  identity  is  possible  only  when 
the  agencies  regard  as  applicants  for  employment  only  those  for  whom 
positions  are  accessible,  and  at  the  same  time  record  as  positions  filled  all 
positions  to  which  applicants  are  sent.  There  is  still  another  inaccuracy  in 
the  reported  number  of  applications  for  employment  in  Chicago,  where  there 
are  three  state  agencies;  an  applicant  may  be  recorded  at  the  same  time  in 
all  three  agencies  as  an  applicant  for  employment.  This  error  is  inconsider- 
able, however,  since  the  offices  do  not  ordinarily  register  persons  fpr  whom 
work  is  not  immediately  accessible. 

Moreover,  the  number  of  applications  for  employment  is  not  an  adequate 
test  of  the  extent  of  unemployment,  because  there  is  no  indication  in  the 
reports  in  regard  to  whether  applicants  for  employment  are  employed  or 
unemployed  at  the  time  of  registration.  The  only  exception  to  this  is  one  of 
the  Chicago  agencies  which  takes  such  information  from  those  reported  as 
refusing  to  register.  This  shows  that  out  of  11,835  persons  reported  as  re- 
fusing to  register  for  employment  in  this  agency  in  1911,  68  were  employed 
at  the  time  of  application. 

Illinois,    13th   Annual   Report   of   Free    Employment    Offices,    1911, 
p.  13. 

The  number  of  persons  employed  at  the  time  of  registration  is.  how- 
ever, presumably  small,  and  some  superintendents  have  raised  objections  to 
assisting  such  persons  at  all. 

Illinois,    9th    Annual    Report    of    Free    Employment    Offices,    1907, 
p.  71. 

Because  of  these  inadequacies  in  the  reported  number  of  applications  for 
employment  and  the  difficulties  in  securing  accurate  and  pertinent  statistics 
for  this  purpose,  some  of  the  agencies  do  not  make  reports  of  the  number 
of  applications  for  employment.  The  only  value  of  the  reports  as  ordinarily 
given  is  to  show  a  high  percentage  of  applicants  who  are  assisted  in  secur- 
ing employment,  and  the  practice  seems  to  be  retained  only  in  order  to  make 
as  good  reports  as  possible.  It  is  strange,  however,  that  the  Wisconsin  law, 
which  was  repealed  in  1911,  should  have  put  a  premium  on  this  padding  of 
reports  by  specifying  that  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  dismissal  of  a  super- 
intendent of  a  free  employment  office  would  be  a  low  percentage  of  posi- 
tions secured  to  applications  for  help  and  for  employment. 

But  even  if  the  reports  of  the  number  of  applications  for  help  and 
for  employment  and  of  the  number  of  positions  filled  were  accurate,  such 
reports  would  still  be  inadequate  in  indicating  the  efficiency  of  the  public 
employment  agencies  in  organizing  the  labor  market.  Should  all  positions 
be  given  equal  weight  in  the  reports?  Some  are  temporary,  lasting  only  a 
few  hours,  while  others  are  permanent.  That  this  may  make  a  great  differ- 
ence in  passing  judgment  on  the  agencies  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in 
one  year  in  the  casual  registries  in  England  3,799  persons  secured  266,622 
positions,  or  an  average  of  70  positions  each.  Evidently  the  permanency  of 
the  position  secured  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  efficiency.  Never- 
theless, none  of  the  public  agencies  in  the  United  States  give  any  indication 
in  their  records  in  regard  to  the  probable  permanency  of  the  position 
secured,  with  the  exception  of  the  Kansas  City  agency,  which  is  controlled 
by  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare.  It  was  found  that  the  average  worker  who 
was  placed  by  this  agency  in  the  year  1910-11  earned  a  total  of  $1.13  from 
'  the  job. 

Kansas  City.  2d  Annual  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Welfare,  1911, 
p.  147. 

The  Massachusetts  Commission  of  1911  found  that  of  270  persons  who  had 
actually  been  hired  in  a  month  through  the  Boston  Public  Employment 
Agency  34.1  per  cent  secured  temporary  work,  of  152  hired  through  the 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 133 

Springfield  agency  50.0  per  cent  secured  temporary  work,  and  of  48  hired 
through  the  Fall  River  agency  45.8  per  cent  secured  temporary  work. 

Massachusetts,    Report    of    Commission    to    Investigate    Employ- 
ment Offices,  1911,  pp.  73-75.  No  definition  of  "temporary"  is  given  in 

this  report. 

The  Citizens'  Free  Employment  Bureau,  opened  in  Milwaukee  for  three 
months  in  the  winter  of  1911,  though  not  in  the  control  of  a  public  body, 
was  doing  work  very  similar  to  that  done  by  the  public  agencies,  and  there- 
fore furnishes  some  evidence  which  is  applicable;  of  1,443  positions  re- 
ported filled  by  this  agency,  65.6  per  cent  were  reported  as  temporary. 

Citizens'    Free    Employment    Bureau,    Bulletin    of    the    Milwaukee 

Bureau  of  Economy  and   Efficiency,   1911,  No.  6,  p.  8.     No  definition 

of  "temporary"  is  given  in  this  report. 

A  few  agencies  report  the  number  of  different  persons  assisted  in  securing 
positions,  as  well  as  the  number  of  positions  filled. 

Massachusetts,   5th   Annual   Report  of   Free   Employment   Offices, 

1911,  p.   14;   Citizens'  Free  Employment  Bureau,  Milwaukee,  loc.  cit., 

p.  8. 

But  this  method,  also,  fails  to  indicate  accurately  the  permanency  of  the 
position  secured,  since  the  agency  does  not  have  a  record  of  all  the  positions 
secured  by  their  individual  applicants,  and  since  the  worker  might  leave  a 
position  in  a  very  short  time  for  no  reason  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the 
position.  The  superintendent  of  the  Minneapolis  agency  has  stated  that 
many  of  the  male  applicants  refuse  to  take  any  work  other  than  the  tem- 
porary and  casual  jobs 

Sargent,  loc.  cit,  p.  93. 

and  the  Massachusetts  Commission  of  1911  found  that  of  128  persons  hired 
through  the  Boston  agency  for  permanent  positions,  56.3  per  cent  worked  for 
one  week  or  less,  of  51  hired  through  the  Springfield  agency  for  permanent 
positions  35.3  per  cent  worked  for  one  week  or  less,  and  of  15  hired  through 
the  Fall  River  agency  for  permanent  positions  26.7  per  cent  worked  for  one 
week  or  less. 

Massachusetts,  Report  of  Commission  to  Investigate  Employment 

Offices,  1911,  p.  75. 

Some  public  agencies  have  given  estimates  of  the  proportion  of  positions 
secured  which  were  temporary;  for  instance,  it  is  estimated  that  90  per  cent 
of  the  positions  secured  in  the  female  department  of  the  Minneapolis  agency 
are  one-day  positions. 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  93. 

Similar  estimates  have  been  made  by  several  other  superintendents, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  8,  9,  61,  69,  80;  Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  50,  81-82. 
but  such  estimates  do  not  admit  of  any  more  accurate  conclusion  than  that 
in  most  of  the  offices  there  is  a  very  large  proportion  of  short-time  and 
temporary  positions,  of  a  casual  nature. 

Consequently,  there  is  no  means  of  determining  accurately  how  large 
a  proportion  of  the  positions  secured  through  the  public  agencies  are  per- 
manent. The  reports,  therefore,  are  completely  valueless  in  giving  an  ac- 
curate idea  of  the  efficiency  of  the  agencies.  It  is  impossible  to  determine 
whether  the  public  agencies  have  been  merely  a  means  of  promoting  the 
casualization  of  labor,  or  whether  they  have  had  some  other  more  desirable 
result.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  they  have  added  principally  to  the  agencies 
which  secure  casual  occupation  for  workers,  and  that  the  engagements  made 
through  the  assistance  of  these  agencies  are  of  temporary  duration.  Con- 
sequently, it  is  not  adequate  to  represent  the  efficiency  of  an  agency  in  terms 
of  the  absolute  number  of  positions  secured. 

The  absolute  number  of  positions  filled  is  an  inadequate  measure  of 
efficiency,  also,  because  it  fails  to  take  into  consideration  the  possible  work 
that  might  be  done  by  such  agencies,  the  number  of  positions  open  to  be 


134 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

filled.  Some  attempts  have  been  made  to  secure  a  correction  for  this  by 
throwing  the  number  of  positions  filled  into  relation  to  the  size  of  the 
city  in  which  the  agency  is  located. 

Massachusetts,    34th    Annual    Report   of    Statistics    of    Labor,    1903, 

p.  169;  Kansas  City,  2nd  Annual   Report  of  Board  of  Public  Welfare, 

1911,  p.  122. 

Though  this  gives  some  correction,  it  is  a  very  rough  and  not  entirely 
adequate  method.  In  the  first  place,  it  fails  to  take  into  consideration  the 
number  of  positions  secured  through  the  agency  in  districts*  not  within,  the 
city.  Since  the  agencies  differ  in  regard  to  the  extent  of  such  work,  and 
since  there  is  no  accurate  indication  of  the  extent  of  such  work  in  the  re- 
ports of  the  agencies,  it  is"  both  impossible  to  compare  the  agencies  with 
each  other,  or  the  same  agency  at  different  times,  and  thus  impossible  to 
correct  for  this  error.  Again,  some  cities  which  are  in  a  process  of  develop- 
ing new  industries,  even  though  smaller  than  other  more  static  cities  with 
which  they  might  be  compared,  are  engaging  more  employes,  and  therefore 
present  a  greater  opportunity  to  the  employment  agency  for  placing  appli- 
cants for  employment.  Also,  in  other  ways  the  size  of  a  city  is  not  an  ac- 
curate indication  of  the  possible  work  that  an  agency  might  do;  for  in- 
stance, the  state  employment  agency  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  furnished 
1,210  harvest  hands  for  Kansas  farmers  in  1910  on  requests  for  that  number, 
but  in  1911  they  had  no  demands  for  harvest  hands  and  could  fill  no  posi- 
tions of  that  kind. 

Missouri,  33rd  Annual   Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1911, 

p.  230. 

Such  variations  in  the  possibilities  of  an  agency  cannot  be  accurately  repre- 
sented in  terms  of  the  size  of  a  city. 

Evidently,  therefore,  the  efficiency  of  a  public  employment  agency  in 
dealing  with  unemployment  should  be  measured  in  terms  of  the  total  amount 
of  unemployment  within  its  area  of  operations.  As  shown  above,  the  re- 
ported number  of  applications  for  employment  is  not  an  indication  of  the 
extent  of  unemployment.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  there  is  no  demand 
for  labor,  an  agency  cannot  be  held  inefficient  if  it  fails  to  secure  positions 
for  the  applicants  for  employment;  the  efficiency  must  be  determined,  there- 
fore, not  only  in  terms  of  the  amount  of  unemployment,  but  in  terms,  also, 
of  the  demand  for  the  workers  who  are  unemployed.  While  the  reported 
number  of  applications  for  help  is  less  inaccurate  than  the  other  figures 
presented  by  the  public  agencies,  it  is  evidently  not  an  adequate  representa- 
tion of  the  entire  demand  of  a  community  for  labor,  since  the  agency  receives 
only  a  small  part  of  the  employers'  applications  for  labor.  Consequently,  it 
may  be  concluded  that  the  reports  which  are  ordinarily  presented  to  show 
the  efficiency  of  the  public  agencies  are  quite  meaningltss  in  giving  any  in- 
dication of  the  extent  to  which  they  have  solved  the  problem  of  unemploy- 
ment. 

Much  more  concrete  evidence  of  the  efficiency  of  such  public  agencies  is 
furnished  by  the  fact  that  agencies  have  been  opened  under  the  control  of 
a  committee  of  citizens  in  Milwaukee  and  of  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare  in 
Kansas  City,  and  have  done  much  the  same  kind  of  work  that  was  done  by 
the  state  agencies  located  in  those  cities.  The  Citizens'  Employment  Bureau 
secured  positions  for  1,443  persons  during  the  three  months  in  the  winter 
of  1911,  while  during  the  same  time  the  state  agency  in  Milwaukee  regis- 
tered and  reported  as  "placed"  about  800  persons. 

Wisconsin,  Bulletin  of  Industrial  Commission,  1:218,  Aug.  20,  '12. 
The   employment  agency  which  was   maintained   by  the   Kansas    City   Board 
of  Public  Welfare  secured  positions  for  13,835  persons  during  the  eight  months 
ended  May  31,  1911,  while  the  state  agency  in  Kansas  City  secured  only  1,520 
positions  during  the  year  ended  September  30,  1911. 

Missouri,  33rd  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,   1911, 

p.  234;   Kansas  City,  2nd  Annual   Report  of   Board  of  Public  Welfare, 
1911,  p.  147. 


REPORT   OF   THE    MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT  135 

The  comparative  success  of  agencies  in  the  same  community  operating  at 
the  same  time  is  evidence  of  the  failure  of  the  state  agencies  in  the  attempt 
at  organization  of  the  labor  market. 

It  is  necessary,  also,  to  attempt  to  determine  the  extent  to  which  the 
public  employment  agencies  have  been  limited  to  various  classes  of  appli- 
cants, and  thus  have  merely  increased  the  series  of  distinct  centers  in  the 
labor  market. 

There  is  little  definite  formal  evidence  in  regard  to  the  ideal  field  of 
operations  of  the  present  public  employment  agencies.  The  laws  of  a  few 
states  explain  that  the  term  "applicant  for  employment"  is  not  confined  to 
manual  labor,  but  that  it  includes  all  kinds  of  labor. 

See  statutes  of  Colorado,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Oklahoma,  Rhode  Island, 
and  the  law  in  force  in  Wisconsin  until  1911. 

Moreover,  the  agencies  generally  advertise  that  they  furnish  both  skilled 
and  unskilled  help,  and  resent  the  accusation  that  they  confine  their  efforts 
to  the  unskilled 

Illinois,  8th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1906,  p.  3. 
'  and  frequently  refer  to  the  increase  in  the  number  of  applications  made  by 
skilled  workers. 

Illinois,  Annual  Reports  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  4th,  1902,  p. 
55;  8th,  1906,  p.  74;  10th,  1908,  p.  2. 

But  in  actual  practice  the  assumption  of  those  in  charge  of  many  of  the 
agencies  is  that  such  agencies  are  maintained  primarily  for  the  unskilled 
and  this  has  in  some  cases  been  frankly  stated.  The  Secretary  of  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  of  Illinois  stated  that  "the  primary  purpose  in  establishing 
these  offices  was  to  aid  the  common  or  unskilled  laborer  in  getting  work 
without  cost  to  him  or  her," 

Illinois,  7th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1905, 
p.  3. 

and  maintained  that  the  special  investigations  required  in  assisting  skilled 
workers  to  secure  positions  would  diminish  the  usefulness  of  the  offices  and 
frustrate  their  purpose. 

In  addition,  the  methods  of  operation  show  a  strong  tendency  to  special- 
ize on  the  unskilled  workers.  Some  superintendents  attempt  to  use  discrimi- 
nation in  selecting  persons  who  are  fitted  for  positions, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  37;  Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  97;  Massachusetts,  38th 
Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1907,  pp.  451-52;  Michigan,  1st 
Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor,  1910,  p.  421;  Ohio,  22nd  An- 
nual Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1898,  p.  275;  Oklahoma,  2nd 
Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor,  1908-09,  p.  314;  Washington, 

2nd  Biennial  Report  of  Labor  Commissioner,  1899-1900.  p.  21. 
but  there  are  various  other  principles  of  selection  which  would  be  conceivable 
only  with  unskilled  workers;  the  following  are  some  of  the  principles  on  the 
basis   of  which   applicants   are    selected   for   available    positions;    the    number 
of  persons  dependent  on  the  applicant, 
Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  40,   119. 
age  of  applicant,  degree  of  need  of  work, 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  97. 
priority  of  registration, 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  40;   Kansas,  1st  Annual  Report  of  Director  of 
Free    Employment    Bureau,    1901,    p.    18;    Massachusetts,    38th    Annual 
Report   of  Statistics   of   Labor,    1907,   p.  451. 
priority  of  application  after  a  position  is  announced, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  78. 

length   of  waiting  period  in  the   office, 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  97. 


136 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

ability  to  go  to  the  position  immediately, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  66-67. 
residence  in  the  state; 

Statutes  of  public  agencies  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island, 
in  some  cases  the  person  who  has  a  telephone  is  selected   because  he   can 
be  notified  most  easily; 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  40. 

and  some  agencies  send  several  applicants  to  an  employer  and  permit  him 
to  make  the  selection. 

Massachusetts,    Report   of    Commission    to    Investigate    Employment 
Offices,  1911,  p.  78. 

An  attempt  is  being  made  in  Wisconsin  to  register  those  who  do  casual 
work  and  to  send  only  such  registered  casual  workers  to  those  positions, 
so  that,  even  though  they  are  engaged  in  casual  occupations,  they  may  be 
regularly  employed;  this  is  the  only  recorded  case  of  an  attempt  in  the 
United  States  to  decasualize  the  labor  market. 

Letter  written  by  W.  M.   Leiserson  to  the  Chicago  Commission  on 
Unemployment  in  1912. 

Some  agencies  attempt  to  determine  the  efficiency  and  character  of  those 
who  come  repeatedly  to  the  office,  or  even  to  grade  them  on  the  basis  of 
efficiency  in  the  performance  of  work  secured  previously  through  the  public 
agency. 

Connecticut,  17th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1901, 
p.  209;   Illinois,  9th  Annual   Report  of   Free   Employment   Offices,   1907, 
p.   70;   Michigan,   1st  Annual   Report   of  Department   of   Labor,   1910,   p. 
421 ;  New  York,  7th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Bureau,  1902,  p.  4. 
Some  of  the  agencies  require  references  and  testimonials  from  all  appli- 
cants,  even   the  unskilled;   others   require   no   testimonials,   even   from   those 
who  claim  very  technical  skill;  and  the  ordinary  practice  seems  to  be  either 
to  require  no  references,  or  else  not  to  investigate  references   that  are  re- 
quired.    The   Commissioner  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  has  defended   this 
practice  on  the  ground  that  references  and  testimonials  are  of  slight  intrinsic 
value,  that,  if  thorough,  the  investigation  would  be  very  expensive,  and  that 
the  state  is  not  in  a  position  to  guarantee  employes,  even  after  a  most  thor- 
ough investigation. 

Massachusetts,  38th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1907,  pp. 
432-34. 

Still  another  element  in  the  technique  of  the  public  agencies  may  be 
presented  as  an  indication  of  specialization  on  the  unskilled  workers;  in 
none  of  the  public  agencies,  with  the  exception  of  Boston,  is  there  any 
separation  of  the  unskilled  from  the  skilled  workers;  even  in  the  Boston 
office  all  applicants  enter  by  the  same  door  and  stairs;  there  is  only  a  parti- 
tion reaching  part  way  up  the  room  between  the  skilled  and  unskilled  fe- 
males, while  the  unskilled  males  are  separated  from  the  other  male  appli- 
cants only  by  a  railing,  and  the  boys  under  eighteen  years  of  age  are  in  the 
same  office  with  the  skilled,  differentiated  from  them  only  by  reason  of 
applications  at  different  desks. 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  62. 

It  seems  evident  that  the  skilled  workers  would  not  be  inclined  to  pat- 
ronize offices  in  which  there  is  no  differentiation  of  the  skilled  and  unskilled, 
and  that  an  agency  which  is  attempting  to  secure  the  patronage  of  skilled 
workers  would  not  in  this  way  make  patronage  difficult. 

There  is  little  definite  information  in  regard  to  the  actual  success  in 
securing  positions  for  the  skilled  as  compared  with  the  unskilled,  or  the 
proportion  of  skilled  to  unskilled  applicants  for  employment.  Some  reports 
make  no  occupational  classification  of  the  applicants  or  the  positions  secured, 

See  reports  of  agencies  in  Colorado,  Ohio,  Oregon  and  West  Vir- 
ginia. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 137 

and  the  reports  which  do  contain  such  classifications  offer  no  definition  or 
explanation  of  the  basis  of  classification,  and  there  is  no  possibility  of  differ- 
entiating the  skilled  from  the  unskilled  or  of  securing  uniformity  of  classi- 
fication. In  so  far  as  judgment  may  be  passed  on  the  basis  of  such  inad- 
equate classifications,  it  is  clear  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  applica- 
tions and  of  the  positions  secured  are  in  the  inferior  labor  market — common 
labor  for  males  and  domestic  service  for  females.  In  addition,  some  of  the 
superintendents  have  made  estimates  of  the  proportion  of  the  applicants 
who  are  skilled,  these  estimates  varying  from  3  per  cent  to  25  per  cent. 

See,  for  example,  Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  79,  80. 

Some  of  the  agencies  are  of  service  almost  exclusively  to  unskilled 
males,  others  to  domestic  servants,  such,  for  example,  as  the  Newark  Muni- 
cipal Agency  and  the  agency  which  was  maintained  by  the  State  of  New 
York  from  1896  to  1906.  A  special  committee  appointed  in  1905  to  investi- 
gate the  work  of  the  New  York  agency  reported  that  it  was  practically  an 
intelligence  office  for  domestic  servants. 

New    York,    5th    General    Report    of    Department    of    Labor,    1905, 
pp.  14-16. 

Other  agencies  are  maintained  almost  exclusively  for  agricultural  labor- 
ers; this  is  the  obvious  purpose  of  the  agencies  maintained  in  Wisconsin  and 
New  York  by  the  state  departments  of  agriculture.  And  the  Director  of 
the  Kansas  Free  Employment  Bureau  stated  that  "the  great  and  all-important 
duty  of  the  Bureau  is  to  furnish  hands  to  gather  our  immense  crops." 

Kansas,  12th  Annual  Report,  1912,  p.  5. 

The  agencies  operated  by  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  limit  their  activities 
definitely  to  farm  labor,  common  labor,  domestic  labor  and  settlers,  and, 
also,  largely  to  immigrants. 

United  States,  Annual  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  1909, 
pp.  232-34. 

These  facts  would  indicate  that  the  public  employment  agencies  have 
limited  their  activities  in  actual  practice  to  a  comparatively  small  part  of 
the  labor  market,  being  confined  in  most  cases  to  the  inferior  labor  market, 
frequently  confined,  also,  to  one  sex  in  the  inferior  labor  market. 

There  has  been  a  slight  degree  of  co-operation,  however,  between  the 
public  agencies  and  some  of  the  other  kinds  of  agencies.  This  co-operation 
is  most  apparent  in  the  relationship  between  philanthropic  agencies  and 
the  public  agencies.  It  is  reported  that  there  is  active  co-operation  between 
agencies  of  these  types  in  Minneapolis, 

Sargent,  loc.   cit.,  p.  98. 
but  in  Chicago  and  Boston  the  co-operation  has  seemed  to*  be  unsuccessful. 

Kellor,   loc.   cit.,   pp.   246-50;    Massachusetts,   Report   of    Commission 
to   Investigate   Employment  Offices,   1911,  p.  76. 

The  agency  maintained  in  New  York  City  by  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  co- 
operates with  the  charitable  societies  and  the  immigration  associations,  as 
well  as  with  the  agency  of  the  State  Department  of  Agriculture. 

United    States,    Annual    Report    of    Commissioner    of    Immigration, 
1910,  p.  239. 

Again,  some  of  the  employers'  associations  maintain  agencies  through  which 
they  secure  the  skilled  help,  and  patronize  the  public  agencies  for  their  un- 
skilled help. 

Sargent,  loc. .cit.,  pp.  44,  46. 

The  public  agencies  in  Chicago  have  in  some  cases  sent  skilled  men 
whom  they  were  unable  to  assist  to  private  employment  agencies  which 
were  judged  to  be  honest  and  efficient,  and  which  had  more  knowledge  of 
skilled  trades. 

This  has  given  rise  to  suspicions,  as  expressed  by  the  representative 
of  one  of  the  trade  unions  of  Chicago,  that  the  public  agencies  not  only 


138  REPORT   OF   THE    MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

specialize  in  casual  employments,  but  that  when  they  secure  applications 
from  skilled  workers  they  send  them  to  private  agencies  which  then 
divide  the  fees  with  the  superintendents  of  the  public  agencies.  This  is, 
at  least,  indicative  of  a  popular  attitude,  though  there  may  be  no  truth 
in  the  accusation. 

Thus,  though  there  are  few  cases  of  co-operation  between  the  public 
agencies  and  the  other  types  of  agencies,  this  is  not  the  kind  of  co-operation 
necessary  for  the  organization  of  the  labor  market  in  accordance  with  the 
ideal  of  the  students  of  unemployment.  The  public  agencies  have  not  become 
central,  in  the  sense  that  all  demands  and  supplies  are  represented  in  them, 
and  that  they  are  places  into  which  all  surplus  demands  and  supplies  can 
be  poured.  So  far  as  a  local  community  is  concerned,  the  public  agencies 
have,  therefore,  merely  added  to  the  series  of  distinct  and  non-co-operating 
centers.  They  have  not  secured  an  organization  which  includes  all  occupa- 
tions and  the  characteristic  specialization  on  unskilled  workers  means  that 
they  have  merely  duplicated  the  work  of  the  private  and  other  types  of 
employment  agencies. 

These  public  agencies  have,  also,  been  as  inadequate  in  the  organization 
of  the  larger  labor  market,  extending  over  an  area  including  several  cities 
or  states,  as  have  the  non-public  employment  agencies.  In  fact,  they  show 
very  much  less  efficiency  in  this  respect  than  is  displayed  by  some  types 
of  the  non-public  agencies,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  trade  union  or  em- 
ployers' association  agencies.  In  Massachusetts,  by  the  statute  of  1906,  and 
in  Rhode  Island  and  Montana,  applications  for  employment  could  be  made 
only  by  citizens  of  the  state.  In  1908,  however,  the  Massachusetts  statute 
was  changed  so  that  the  preference  was  given  to  citizens,  but  others  were 
not  absolutely  debarred.  In  Seattle,  also,  from  1893  to  1895,  preference  was 
given,  according  to  the  city  charter,  to  citizens  in  the  selection  of  applicants 
for  available  positions.  The  governmental  bodies  which  have  established 
public  employment  agencies  have  been  interested  primarily  in  their  own 
labor  markets.  Consequently,  there  has  been  a  minimum  of  inter-communal 
and  interstate  placements.  Evidently,  if  there  is  a  surplus  of  labor  in  a 
community  or  a  state,  efforts  would  be  made  to  secure  employment  for 
them  elsewhere  in  order  to  solve  the  local  problem  of  unemployment;  and 
if  there  were  an  unsatisfied  demand  for  labor  in  a  community  or  state,  efforts 
would  be  made  to  secure  laborers  from  outside. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  have  been  many  provisions  which  indicate  an 
ideal  of  an  area  of  operations  more  extensive  than  a  single  community  or 
city.  Some  states  have  attempted  to  secure  a  state-wide  distribution  of 
labor  by  the  establishment  of  "mail  order"  employment  agency  systems, 
in  which  applications  for  employment  or  help  are  made  by  mail,  and  informa- 
tion is  returned  t  from  the  agency  by  mail.  The  first  law  of  this  type  was 
advocated  in  Iowa  in  1893,  but  failed  to  pass.  Montana  adopted  such  a  law 
and  for  two  years  maintained  an  agency  of  that  kind.  In  Maryland  this 
method  of  distribution  was  used  in  the  extra-legal  agency  for  a  short  time 
in  1896,  and  it  has  been  used  since  the  establishment  of  the  state  agencies  in 
Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Maryland,  and  to  a  certain  extent  in  Indiana.  This 
plan  of  distribution  has  been  based  generally  on  the  desire  to  assist  the 
farmers  in  securing  help,  and  has  been  developed  in  Kansas  more  systemat- 
ically than  in  any  other  state. 

The  original  plan  in  Kansas  was  to  have  a  public  employment  agency 
in  each  city  of  2,000  or  more,  with  the  control  divided  between  the 
municipality  and  the  state.  A  few  agencies  were  established  in  the 
smaller  cities,  but  they  appear  from  the  reports  to  have  been  abandoned, 
leaving  only  the  one  agency  in  the  capitol. 

In  Kansas  information  in  regard  to  the  probable  demand  for  harvest  hands 
is  secured  from  voluntary  correspondents  in  each  county;  such  information, 
revised  from  time  to  time,  is  prepared  by  the  state  office  and  furnished  to 
the  associated  press,  the  railroads,  the  philanthropic  employment  agencies 
and  the  public  employment  agencies  in  the  neighboring  states. 

Proceedings  of  Conference  of  State  Immigration,  Land  and  Labor 
Officfels,  1911,  p.  14. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 139 

Those  who  desire  such  employment  can  secure  information  through  any 
of  these  sources.  Such  information  is  secured  in  Wisconsin  on  a  smaller 
scale,  but  with  much  better  control  of  the  distribution,  through  local  bankers. 

Wisconsin,  Bulletin  of  Industrial  Commission,  1:220,  Aug.  20,  '12. 
The   existence   of  such   a   technique   shows  very  plainly  that   the  purpose   of 
such  agencies  is  to  cover  an  area  larger  than  one  city.  . 

This  purpose  is  apparent,  also,  in  the  form  of  organization  of  the 
agencies  operated  by  the  state  departments  of  agriculture  in  Wisconsin  and 
New  York  and  by  the  Division  of  Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigra- 
tion. The  work  of  these  agencies  is  in  its  essence  inter-communal  and  inter- 
state work.  The  Massachusetts  agencies  in  1911  were  authorized  by  special 
statute  to  provide  for  the  better  distribution  of  immigrants  within  the  state. 

In  several  states  attempts  have  been  made  to  secure  co-operation  between 
the  agencies  of  the  state  by  means  of  regular  and  frequent  interchange 
of  reports  and  to  secure  a  more  extensive  knowledge  of  the  labor  market 
by  the  publication  and  distribution  of  such  reports.  The  laws  of  Colorado, 
Illinois,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Rhode  Island  provide  for  weekly  reports  of  the 
number  of  applications  for  employment  and  help  and  the  number  of  positions 
'secured  in  each  office,  thus  showing  the  number  of  positions  still  available; 
but  the  laws  have  not  been  enforced  in  several  of  these  states. 

New   York,  Commission  on  Unemployment.   1911,  p.   114;   Ohio,  20th 

Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1896,  p.  399. 

In  New  York  the  first  law  of  1896  required  weekly  reports  to  be  sent  to 
each  township  supervisor;  but  there  were  1,168  such  supervisors;  the  results 
appeared  to  be  negligible  and  the  expense  very  great;  consequently,  the  law 
was  amended  in  1897,  omitting  that  section.  In  Massachusetts  there  have 
been  several  attempts  to  secure  this  broader  information  in  regard  to  the 
labor  market.  In  1893  one  of  the  objections  raised  to  public  employment 
agencies  was  that  they  failed  to  secure  information  in  regard  to  the  labor  mar- 
ket of  the  entire  state,  and  it  was  urged  that  a  system  of  reports  on  the 
condition  of  the  labor  market  of  the  state  would  be  preferable  to  such 
agencies  in  the  larger  cities.  By  the  first  law  in  1906,  it  was  provided  that 
each  office  send  a  semi-weekly  reoort  to  the  superintendent,  and  that  these 
reports  be  combined  and  returned  to  the  agencies  and  distributed  in  other 
ways;  for  the  first  seventeen  weeks  such  reports  w.ere  published  in  the  "Free 
Employment  Gazette."  In  1909  the  statute  was  changed,  requiring  the 
agencies  to  send  weekly  reports  of  the  demand  and  supply,  as  determined 
by  applications  for  employment  and  for  help,  to  the  clerks  of  all  towns 
and  cities  of  the  state.  But  this  law,  also,  was  enforced  for  a  short  time  only. 

Sargent,   loc.   cit.,  p.  68. 

The  superintendent  of  the  Boston  agency  has  published  a  monthly  "Labor 
Market  Letter,"  which  gives  in  a  descriptive  form  the  general  condition  of 
the  labor  market,  on  the  basis  of  the  information  secured  in  the  public  office. 
A  similar  bulletin  has  been  published  in  Wisconsin  on  the  basis  of  the  reports 
of  the  Milwaukee  agency,  and  since  May,  1912,  including  the  other  state 
agencies;  the  plan  is  to  enlarge  this  bulletin  to  include  all  possible  sources  of 
information  in  regard  to  the  labor  market  of  the  entire  state. 

Wisconsin,  Bulletin  of  Industrial  Commission,  1:220,  Aug.  20,  '12. 
Connecticut,  Missouri  and  Minnesota  have  monthly  reports,  and  Indiana 
a  quarterly  report.  Such  infrequent  reports  as  these  at  monthly  intervals 
evidently  do  not  give  the  continuous  information  in  regard  to  the  labor 
market  which  is  deemed  desirable  for  the  adjustment  of  supply  and  demand 
over  a  large  territory,  but  they  indicate  some  ideal  looking  to  that  final 
successful  adjustment. 

There  are,  in  addition,  a  number  of  minor  indications  of  this  purpose 
to  cover  a  wider  territory  than  one  city.  In  some  agencies  the  applicants 
are  asked  if  they  are  willing  to  work  outside  the  city;  some  superintendents 
have  made  demands  for  wider  advertising  so  that  their  operations  might 
cover  more  territory;  requests  have  been  made  that  newspapers  be  kept  in 
the  offices  to  enable  applicants  to  secure  information  in  regard  to  opportuni- 


140 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

ties  for  employment  not  locally  available.  Some  state  agencies  have  made 
arrangements  with  railways  by  which  reduced  fares  have  been  granted  to 
those  applicants  who  have  offers  of  work  in  other  cities. 

California,  7th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1895, 
pp.  26-27;  Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1909-10,  p.  X98;  Kansas,  Annual  Reports  of  Director  of  Free  Employment 
Bureau,  1st,  1901,  p.  7;  5th,  1905,  p.  4;  Conference  of  State  Immigration, 
Land  and  Labor  Officials,  1911,  p.  16. 

In  Indiana  the  farmers  and  farm  laborers  are  invited  to  meet  in  the  agencies 
on  a  special  occasion  known  as  Farmers'  Day,  to  make  their  contracts  for 
the  coming  season. 

Indiana,  14th  Biennial  Report  of  Department  of  Statistics,  1911-12, 
p.  12.  . 

The  laws  of  several  states  provide  that  the  agencies  be  advertised  in  trade 
journals  without  reference  to  whether  those  journals  are  published  in  the 
state,  provided  they  reach  employers  of  large  numbers  of  laborers. 

Statutes  of  Colorado,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan  and  Oklahoma. 

There  have  been  three  attempts  to  organize  associations  of  employment 
agencies.  In  1901  the  superintendents  of  the  free  employment  agencies  of 
Missouri,  New  York,  Illinois  and  Connecticut  formed  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Free  Employment  Bureaus,  but  in  the  next  year  it  was  merged  with 
the  more  general  Convention  of  the  Officials  of  the  Bureaus  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics, 

New  York,  General  Reports  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  1st,  1901, 
pp.  92-94;  2nd,  1902,  pp.  10-11. 

and  'in  the  meetings  of  the  latter  organization  some  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  work  of  the  public  employment  agencies,  though  no  tangible  co-opera- 
tive plans  have  been  developed.  In  1904  the  commissioners  of  labor  of 
Nebraska,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Oklahoma  and  South  Dakota 
formed  the  Western  Association  of  Free  Employment  Bureaus  for  the  pur- 
pose of  co-operating  to  secure  a  better  distribution  of  the  farm  labor  during 
harvest.  The.  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  office  was  fixed  as  the  central  clearing 
house,  and  each  state  was  expected  to  report  to  it  weekly  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  men  needed  and  available.  But  there  has  been  no  evidence  of  such 
co-operation  and  it  is  presumed  that  the  Association  has  been  discontinued. 
In  December,  1913,  a  meeting  of  superintendents  of  public  employment 
agencies  and  secretaries  of  bureaus  of  labor  statistics  of  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Missouri,  Ohio  and  Alberta  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  an  organization,  to  be  known  as  the  American  Association  of  Public 
Employment  Agencies  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Its  objects  are  to 
improve  the  efficiency  of  the  agencies,  to  extend  such  agencies  to  all  the 
states,  to  secure  closer  co-operation  between  such  agencies,  to  secure  a 
uniform  plan  of  records  and  business  control,  to  devise  and  maintain  a  plan 
of  interchange  of  information  regarding  the  whole  labor  market,  and  to 
secure  proper  distribution  of  labor  throughout  the  country. 

Up  to  date  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention  have  not  been  pub- 
lished. See,  W.  M.  Leiserson,  Survey,  31:165,  Nov.  8,  '13. 

In  general,  then,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  public  employment  agen- 
cies recognize  no  formal  limitation  on  their  field  of  operations.  When  they 
are  interested  primarily  in  assisting  the  employers,  they  secure  laborers  in 
any  locality  in  which  they  are  available,  though  giving  the  preference  to 
citizens,  since  they  have  an  interest  in  keeping  the  citizens  employed.  When 
they  are  interested  primarily  in  assisting  the  unemployed,  they  attempt  to 
secure  positions  for  them  in  the  locality,  if  possible,  but  do  not  restrict 
their  efforts  entirely  to  the  community.  The  superintendent  of  the  Seattle 
municipal  agency  has  justified  this  inter-local  work  by  the  arguments,  first, 
that  it  takes  from  the  city  the  rough  and  dangerous  unemployed,  and.  sec- 
ondly, that  when  employes  finish  their  engagements  they  come  to  Seattle  to 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  141 


spend  their  money  with  the  merchants  of  that  community,  since  it  is  known 
that  Seattle  has  the  best  facilities  for  securing  other  engagements. 

Washington,  2nd  Biennial  Report  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1897-98, 

p.    158. 

But  though  these  agencies  do  not  recognize  any  formal  limitation  of  their 
area  of  operations,  the  efforts  at  co-operation  are  limited  almost  entirely 
to  intra-state  agencies,  and  there  is  very  little  actual  co-operation  between 
the  agencies  of  one  state,  or  even  between  the  agencies  in  one  city  where,  as 
in  Chicago,  there  is  more  than  one  agency  in  a  city. 

Sargent,  loc.'cit,  pp.  50,  68. 

It  is  reported,  however,  that  the  public  agency  in  Duluth,  Minnesota,  co- 
operates with  the  public  agency  in  Superior,  Wisconsin. 

Sargent,  loc.  cit,  p.  98. 

and  that  the  public  agencies  in  New  York,  Connecticut,  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri have  co-operated  with  the  Kansas  Bureau  in  the  distribution  of  farm 
laborers. 

Kansas,  3rd  Annual  Report  of  Director  of  Free  Employment  Bureau, 
1903,  p.  9. 

Though  there  is  little  evidence  of  active  co-operation  between  public 
employment  agencies,  either  in  the  inter-communal  or  inter-state  placements, 
there  is  evidence  that  the  agencies  have  some  slight  degree  of  success  in 
securing  employment  for  applicants  in  localities  other  than  the  home  com- 
munity. A  large  number  of  the  agencies  report  that  they  have  received  calls 
from  and  made  placements  in  many  other  places  than  their  own  localities, 
these  being  sometimes  in  the  same  state,  frequently  in  distant  states.  But 
few  of  the  agencies  publish  records  of  their  inter-communal  work;  most  of 
the  agencies  that  publish  such  reports  have  been  municipal  agencies,  and 
there  is  no  basis  for  generalization  from  these  statistics  to  the  expected 
records  of  the  state  agencies.  The  work  of  the  Kansas  state  agency,  of  the 
agencies  maintained  by  the  departments  of  agriculture  in  Wisconsin  and 
New  York  and  the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  is  almost  entirely  inter-communal, 
since  these  agencies  were  organized  for  the  purpose  of  the  distribution  of 
labor  either  to  the  farmers  or  else  out  of  the  cities.  The  Boston  agency 
places  more  men  as  farm  hands  than  in  any  other  occupation, 

Massachusetts,  38th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1907,  p.  445. 
and  the  Pueblo  agency  claims  that  it  furnishes  90  per  cent  of  the  farm  help 
of  that  vicinity. 

Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1909-10, 

p.  204. 

In  Chicago,  however,  very  few  applicants  are  sent  outside  of  the  city 
by  the  state  agencies, 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  50. 

and  in  New  York,  in  the  year  1903-04,  28.4  per  cent  of  the  males  and  5.9  per 
cent  of  the  females  who  were  reported  as  securing  positions  were  located 
outside  the  city  of  New  York.  Some  of  the  western  municipal  agencies  show 
a  much  greater  amount  of  inter-communal  work  than  these  state  agencies: 
in  Butte,  in  the  year  1910,  67.7  per  cent  of  the  males  and  32.9  per  cent  of 
the  females  who  were  reported  as  securing  positions  were  placed  outside  the 
city  of  Butte,  and  in  Great  Falls,  for  the  same  year,  the  corresponding  figures 
were  56.8  per  cent  and  52.7  per  cent.  In  Portland  during  the  period  from 
October  1,  1909,  to  December  31,  1910,  12.9  per  cent  of  all  persons  reported 
placed  were  located  outside  the  city;  in  1905,  of  all  persons  reported  placed 
by  the  Duluth  municipal  agency,  19.4  per  cent  were  placed  outside  the  state 
and  25.8  per  cent  in  the  state,  but  outside  of  the  city  of  Duluth. 

The  efficiency  of  the  public  employment  agencies  in  such  inter-communal 
work  must  be  judged,  however,  not  only  by  the  proportion  of  such  place- 
ments to  the  entire  number  of  placements,  but  also,  by  the  success  in  accom- 
plishing a  controlled  and  adequate  general  distribution  of  the  labor  supply. 


142  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

It  is  evident,  from  this  point  of  view,  that  the  public  employment  agencies 
have  no  system  or  method  by  which  they  can  furnish  to  the  unemployed 
continuous  information  in  regard  to  opportunities  for  employment.  If  the 
applicant  is  sent  to  a  distant  community,  he  is  as  helpless  after  the  engage- 
ment is  finished,  as  though  he  had  been  sent  by  a  private  agency.  The  state 
agencies  have  no  extensive  system  of  information  that  will  re-direct  him 
to  other  employment.  The  worker  must  make  his  own  way  by  his  own 
efforts  or  by  other  assistance  which  he  can  secure. 

Conference  of  State  Immigration,  Land  and  Labor  Officials,  1911,  p.  17. 

The  reports  of  demands  for  harvest  hands  which  are  published  in  the 
newspapers  are  of  some  value  in  this  re-direction,  but  there  is  no  system  of 
definite  and  continuous  information. 

Kansas,    llth    Annual    Report    of    Free    Employment    Bureau,    1911, 

pp.  5-6. 

Consequently,  the  public  employment  agencies  have  generally  failed  in 
the  organization  of  the  inter-communal  labor  market;  there  has  been  no 
actual  co-operation  between  the  different  state  agencies,  either  intra-state 
or  inter-state,  that  has  been  significant  in  results.  No  agency  has  a  system 
of  determining  the  demands  for.  labor  in  territory  outside  of  its  own  locality; 
the  proportion  of  positions  secured  in  other  communities  varies  greatly  in 
the  different  agencies,  but  in  no  agency  are  there  any  means  for  keeping  the 
person  who  is  sent  into  another  locality  informed  in  regard  to  further  possi- 
bilities for  employment.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  ideal  organization  of 
the  labor  market,  as  determined  by  the  students  of  unemployment,  the  exist- 
ing system  of  public  agencies  is  of  no  more"  value  in  the  inter-communal 
placements  than  the  non-public  agencies,  for  there  is  no  organization  which 
will  make  wandering  in  search  of  work  unprofitable,  and  no  technique  for 
furnishing  the  unemployed  with  definite  and  continuous  information  in 
regard  to  opportunities  for  employment  over  a  wide  area. 

This  study  of  the  success  of  the  public  employment  agencies  leads  to 
the  following  conclusions:  (1)  There  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the 
number  of  such  agencies  since  1890;  (2)  the  success  or  efficiency  of  these 
agencies  cannot  be  determined  from  their  reports  because  of  the  very  inad- 
equate methods  of  keeping  and  presenting  their  records,  but  all  indications 
are  that  the  reports  very  greatly  magnify  what  has  been  accomplished;  (3)  in 
Kansas  City  and  Milwaukee,  which  had  state  agencies  fairly  representative 
of  the  general  type,  new  agencies  which  were  established  have  far  outstripped 
the  old,  thus  showing  the  failure  of  the  old  to  accomplish  the  full  possibilities; 
(4)  moreover,  for  all  of  these  agencies  it  may  be  said  that  they  are  merely 
additional  distinct  and  non-co-operating  centers  in  the  labor  market,  limited 
in  actual  practice  almost  entirely  to  the  unskilled  workers  and  to  temporary 
engagements,  limited  either  to  placements  within  a  city  or  to  placements 
outside  the  city  on  the  basis  of  almost  insignificant  knowledge  of  the  de- 
mand for  labor,  and  in  all  cases  failing  to  co-operate  with  other  public  or 
non-public  agencies  in  any  organized  way;  (5)  because  of  the  specialization 
on  unskilled  labor  and  casual  employments,  it  is  possible  that  the  public 
agencies,  like  the  non-public,  may  have  aggravated  the  situation  by  making 
it  easy  to  get  into  casual  employment  and  difficult  to  leave  it;  thus  that  they 
may  have  tended  to  promote  the  process  of  casualization.  Consequently, 
it  may  be  concluded  that  the  public  agencies  have  been  no  more  successful 
than  the  private  or  philanthropic  employment  agencies  in  organizing  the 
labor  market. 

In  consideration  of  this  general  failure  on  the  part  of  the  public  employ- 
ment agencies  to  organize  the  labor  market  either  within  a  given  locality  or 
within  a  larger  area,  it  is  irppoTtant  to  attempt  to  determine  the  reasons  for 
this  failure. 

The  fundamental  explanation  of  the  failure  of  the  public  employment 
agencies  to  organize  the  labor  market  is  found  in  the  fact  that  these 
agencies  have  not  been  established  or  maintained  for  that  purpose,  and,  with 
a  few  exceptions  in  the  -last  half-decade,  have  not  had  any  ideal  of  such 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 143 

organization.  They  have  been  primarily  an  attempt  to  protect  the  unem- 
ployed from  the  private  employment  agencies,  and  based  on  the  following 
scheme  of  thought:  Very  many  of  the  private  employment  agencies  are 
dishonest,  fraudulent  and  unscrupulous;  the  unemployed  are  not  in  a  posi- 
tion to  make  advantageous  bargains  with  these  agencies,  or  to  protect  them- 
selves from  impositions;  the  employment  agencies  are  trafficking  in  the  very 
important  commodity  of  human  labor,  and  especially  when  they  are  deal- 
ing with  ignorant  foreigners  and  the  unprotected  unemployed,  are  perform- 
ing a  function  which  is  of  such  vital  importance  to  the  state  that  it  should 
not  be  related  to  the  desire  for  financial  gain;  even  if  the  private  employment' 
agencies  are  honest  and  their  fees  reasonable,  the  unemployed  are  kept  from 
working  because  of  inability  to  pay  the  fees,  or  if  they  ate  able  to  pay  fees, 
do  so  only  with  great  hardship,  and  thus  a  few  private  employment  agents 
are  enriched  at  the  expense  of  the  portion  of  the  population  least  able  to 
contribute  to  the  support  of  others;  moreover,  there  is  no  reason  why  any 
one  should  be  compelled  to  pay  a  fee  in  order  to  secure  an  opportunity  to 
work.  Therefore,  according  to  this  argument,  it  would  be  cheaper  for  the 
people  of  the  state,  it  would  protect  the  unemployed  and  it  would  be  a  well- 
merited  service  to  the  unemployed,  if  the  state  maintained  free  employment 
agencies;  this  would  decrease  the  necessary  expenditures  for  charities,  since 
people  become  objects  of  charity  because  of  their  inability  to  pay  fees  to 
secure  positions  which  would  enable  them  to  be  self-supporting,  and  because 
of  the  frauds  practiced  upon  them  by  these  private  agencies;  in  either  case, 
individual  degeneracy  and  crime  result  from  such  unemployment,  and  the 
establishment  of  public  employment  agencies  would  thus  be  a  means  of 
preventing  degeneracy  and  crime.  The  public  agencies  were  expected  to 
eliminate  the  private  employment  agencies,  and  this  was  justified,  partly, 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  all  fraudulent,  partly  on  the  ground  that  if 
some  were  honest  and  reasonable,  it  was  impossible  to  differentiate  them  from 
the  fraudulent  agencies;  the  competition  of  the  public  agencies  was  expected 
to  eliminate  the  private  agencies  because,  it  was  argued,  applicants  for  em- 
ployment would  not  go  to  the  agencies  to  which  they  were  required  to  pay 
fees  if  they  could  secure  free  services  in  the  state  agencies. 

There  is  very  little  indication,  especially  previous  to  1906,  that  there  was 
any  definite  consideration  given  to  the  possible  superiority  of  these  public 
agencies  in  regulating  the  distribution  of  labor,  few  arguments  that  these 
public  agencies  would  reduce  unemployment  except  by  reason  of  the  free 
service,  and  little  hope  that  they  would  prevent  wandering  in  search  of 
work.  The  attention  was  centered  on  the  police  protection  and  charity  as- 
pects of  the  problem,  and  it  was  this  direction  of  the  attention,  the  result 
of  the  problem  of  the  times,  that  determined  the  methods  and  efficiency  of 
the  agencies.  ''  The  following  material  is  presented  as  evidence  in  support  of 
this  interpretation  of  the  failure  of  the  public  agencies: 

The  evils  of  private  employment  agencies  had  been  receiving  consider- 
able attention  before  any  efforts  other  than  regulations  were  made  to  con- 
trol them;  municipal  ordinances  had  been  passed  in  several  of  the  large 
cities,  and  in  1885  Minnesota  passed  a  statute.  But  the  evils  continued  in 
spite  of  these  regulations,  as  was  made  evident  in  an  investigation  in  New 
York  in  1886, 

New  York,  4th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor   Statistics,   1886, 

pp.  23-61. 
and  in  Ohio  in  1888. 

Ohio,    12th   Annual   Report   of   Bureau   of   Labor   Statistics,   1888,  pp. 

262-67. 

The  Commissioner  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Colorado,  who  made 
the  first  suggestion  of  public  employment  agencies  which  has  received  pub- 
licity, urged  in  1887  that  either  the  private  agencies  should  be  strictly  regu- 
lated by  law,  or  else  public  employment  agencies  should  be  established;  he 
favored  the  latter  method,  and  was  instrumental  in  pushing  into  the  legisla- 
ture a  bill  to  establish  public  agencies  in  all  the  larger  cities  of  the  state 
and  to  outlaw  the  private  employment  agencies.  The  bill  failed  because  the 


144  REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

legislature  was  considering  what  was  referred  to  in  the  Journals  as  a  "similar 
bill,"  namely,  a  bill  to  regulate  private  agencies. 

Colorado,  House  Journal,  1889,  p.  388;  Colorado,  1st  Biennial  Report 
of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1887-88,  pp.  363-69;  ibid.  3rd  Biennial  Re- 
port, 1891-92,  p.  162. 

Thus  the  regulation  of  private  agencies  and  the  establishment  of  public 
agencies  were  considered  as  alternative  methods  of  securing  the  same  results. 
The  private-employment-agency  animus  is  especially  apparent  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Ohio  public  agencies.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
the  suggestion  for  the  establishment  of  such  agencies  was  preceded  by  a 
study  of  the  evils  of  private  agencies,  which  presented  the  problem  to  the 
people  of  the  state;  from  the  numerous  opprobrious  epithets  applied  to  the 
private  agencies,  such,  for  example,  as  "leeches  engaged  in  sucking  the  life 
blood  from  the  poor;" 

Ohio,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1890,  pp. 
19-24. 

from  the  report  that  in  the  first  six  months  of  operation  the  public  agencies 
cost  the  state  only  $5,000,  while  the  workers  placed  through  their  assistance 
would  otherwise  have  been  compelled  to  pay  fees  to  private  agencies,  amount- 
ing to  $20,132; 

Ibid.,  p.  19. 

from  the  statements  that  the  private  agencies  had  been  driven  entirely  out 
of  three  cities  in  which  public  agencies  had  been  located,  and  the  methods 
of  the  agencies  in  the  other  two  cities  had  been  greatly  improved,  in  so  far 
as  the  agencies  had  not  been  entirely  eliminated; 

Ohio,  16th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1892,  p.  17. 
and  by  such  explanations  as  that  of  the  representative  of  Ohio  in  the  Na- 
tional Convention  of  the  Officials  of  the  Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics  in  1891, 
who,  when  asked  the  function  of  these  public  employment  agencies,  replied: 
"The  particular  function  is  *  *  *  to  prevent  poor  people  being  robbed  of 
their  money  by  having  to  go  to  employment  agencies  that  charge  from  one 
dollar  to  five  dollars  as  a  deposit.  *  *  *  By  our  law  we  do  away  with 
these  offices." 

Eighth  Annual  Convention  of  Officials  of  Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics, 

1891,  p.  92. 

Ohio,  having  started  the  movement  with  this  purpose,  was  largely  influ- 
ential in  determining  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  public  employment  agen- 
cies in  the  other  states.  This  is  not  merely  a  case  of  imitation;  the  other 
states  had  the  same  problem  of  unemployment  and  of  exploitation  of  the  un- 
employed by  the  private  agencies;  in  other  states,  as  in  Ohio,  the  problem  of 
unemployment  itself  was  considered  too  large  for  solution,  but  it  was  possi- 
ble to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  the  unemployed;  and  the  reputed  success 
of  the  Ohio  public  agencies  in  abolishing  these  evils  quickly  spread  to  the 
other  states,  resulting  in  demands  for  the  solution  of  their  own  problems. 
The  method  by  which  these  reports  spread  was  largely  through  the  meet- 
ings of  the  officials  of  the  bureaus  of  labor  statistics  and  the  interchange  of 
reports.  The  reports  on  the  success  of  the  Ohio  public  agencies  in  the 
National  Convention  of  the  Officials  of  the  Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics  in 
1891  had  led  the  commissioners  of  labor  in  several  of  the  states  to  make 
studies  of  their  private  employment  agencies  and  to  recommend  legislation 
similar  to  that  in  Ohio.  At  the  next  convention  of  the  officials  in  1892  a 
resolution  was  nresented,  recommending  to  the  legislatures  of  the  different 
states  the  consideration  of  the  advisability  of  establishing  state  agencies. 

Ninth  Annual  Convention  of  Officials  of  Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics, 

1892,  p.  97. 

The  adoption  of  this   resolution   was   moved  on   the   ground   that  the   estab- 
lishment  of   state   employment  agencies   "means  the   abolishment   of  a   great 
stumbling-block  now  in  the  path  of  every  unemployed  workingman." 
Ibid.,  p.  96. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 145 

The  merits  of  the  resolution  were  argued  entirely,  aside  from  some 
technicalities  of  enforcement  of  laws,  in  terms  of  the  evils  of  the  private 
agencies. 

The  representative  from  Michigan  moved  as  an  amendment  to  this 
resolution  that  "in  case  said  public  employment  offices  do  not  find  private 
employment  for  all  those  who  need  it,  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  supply  such  employment."  Ibid.,  pp.  97-98.  This  amendment 
failed  to  carry.  While  this  amendment  indicates  some  attention  to  un- 
employment, as  contrasted  with  the  exploitation  of  the  unemployed,  it 
seems  to  have  elicited  no  support. 

This  resolution  was  of  immense  importance  in  the  direction  of  the  move- 
ment for  the  establishment  of  public  agencies.  It  was  used  as  the  basis,  and, 
in  some  cases,  as  the  principal  argument  for  recommendation  of  laws  in 
several  of  the  states,  and  was  referred  to  with  commendation  in  several 
other  states.  In  addition,  knowledge  of  the  Ohio  public  agencies  was  spread 
by  visits  made  to  Ohio  by  representatives  from  other  states  which  were 
interested  in  the  establishment  of  similar  institutions,  particularly  from 
Iowa,  Massachusetts,  Missouri  and  Connecticut.  Letters  of  inquiry  were 
sent  to  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  Ohio  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States. 

Ohio,  17th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1893,  p.  874. 
The  reply  he  made  to  the  inquiries  from  Iowa  is  indicative  of  the  general 
direction  of  thought  at  that  time.  He  wrote:  "The  employment  offices  in 
Ohio  are  giving  great  satisfaction  and  have  been  the  means  of  wiping  out 
almost  entirely  the  'pay  employment  offices'  which  formerly  existed  in  this 
state  to  an  alarming  extent." 

Iowa,  5th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1893,  p.  11. 
The  commissioners  of  labor  in  other  states  had  similar  attitudes  toward 
the  purpose  of  such   agencies,  for  the  Commissioner  of  Labor   of   Missouri 
stated  in  1903  that  the  "important  reason  and  sufficient  justification  for  the 
free  offices"  is  "the  existence  of  the  poor  unable  to  pay  fees," 

Missouri,   25th  Annual   Report  of   Bureau   of  Labor  Statistics,   1903, 
p.  357.     The  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  Connecticut  said  somewhat  sim- 
ilarly:    "If   there   are   sufficient  unemployed   in   a   state   so   that   private 
agencies  flourish,  then  there  is  a  class  of  unfortunates  which  needs  the 
assistance  and  the  protection  from  imposition  which  a  public  office  would 
give."     16th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1900,  p.  163. 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  has  claimed  that 
the  system  of  public  agencies  in  that  state  is  due  entirely  to  his  report  of 
1898 — in  which  the  problem  is  stated  as  the  exploitation  of  the  unemployed, 
rather  than  as  unemployment  itself. 

Seventeenth  Annual  Convention  of  Officials  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
stistics.  1901,  p.  160;  Michigan,  25th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor, 
1908,  p.  471. 

Investigations  of  private  employment  agencies  have  been  made  in  many 
states  as  the  necessary  prerequisite  of  recommendation  of  the  establishment 
of  public  employment  agencies. 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  39;  California,  29th  Assembly,  Appendix  to  Journal, 
1891,  Vol.  VII;  Colorado,  1st  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics, 1887-88,  pp.  344-69;  Connecticut,  16th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  1900,  pp.  164-65;  Iowa,  4th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  1890-91,  pp.  217-37;  Maryland,  5th  Annual  Report 
of  Bureau  of  Statistics,  1896,  pp.  64-78;  Ibid.,  2  Annual  Report,  1894,  pp. 
185-96:  Massachusetts,  34th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1903, 
pp.  207-13:  Missouri,  13th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1891,  pp.  30-58;  Ibid.,  19th  Annual  Report,  1897,  pp.  486-88;  Nebraska,  3rd 
Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1891-2,  pp.  573-85;  New  York,  4th 
Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1886,  pp.  23-61;  Ibid.,  17th 
Annual  Report,  1899,  p.  vii,  1222-27;  Ohio,  12th  Annual  Report  of  Bu- 


146 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

reau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1888,  pp.  262-67;  Wisconsin,  10th  Biennial  Report 
of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1900-01,  pp.  762-70. 

But  also  in  the  states  in  which  special  local  investigations  were  not  made, 
there  were  reports  in  regard  to  the  evils  of  such  agencies  in  other  states, 
on  the  assumption  that  similar  evils  existed  or  might  come  to  exist  in  the 
states  in  question. 

Colorado,  7th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1899- 
1900,  pp.  292-314;  Illinois,  10th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics, 1898,  pp.  46-64;  Minnesota,  3rd  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of 
Labor,  1891-92,  pp.  20-32;  Rhode  Island,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau 
of  Industrial  Statistics,  1900,  pp.  82-89;  Tennessee,  3rd  Annual  Report  of 
Commissioner  of  Labor,  1894,  p.  6. 

In  these  reports  the  most  severe  epithets  were  applied  to  the  private  agen- 
cies, including  such  as  "unscrupulous  double-dealing  villain,"  "spider  and  the 
fly,"  and  the  "most  perfect  expression  of  man's  inhumanity  to  man." 

Iowa,  4th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1890,  pp. 
217-37. 

On  the  basis  of  the  information  secured  in  such  studies  the  passage  of  acts 
to  establish  public  agencies  was  recommended  by  the  commissioners  of 
labor  and  in  some  cases  by  the  governors  of  the  states. 

Message  of  Governor  Boies  of  Iowa  in  1892,  in  5th  Biennial  Report 
,of  Iowa  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1893,  pp.  7-12;  Message  of  Governor 
Turner  of  Illinois  in  1899,  in  Illinois  House  Journal,  41st  Session,  1899, 
p.  23. 

There  is  further  evidence  of  the  purpose  of  such  public  agencies  in  the 
fact  that  there  were  frequent  reports  of  the  amount  saved  to  the  people  of 
the  state  or  the  city,  in  the  difference  between  the  cost  of  such  offices  and 
the  fees  that  would  have^  been  paid  if  the  same  number  of  persons  had  been 
located  by  private  agencies. 

California,  7th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  1895, 
p.  33;  Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1909-10,  p.  194;  Massachusetts,  34th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor, 
1903,  p.  170;  Missouri,  30th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1908,  p.  850;  Oklahoma,  3rd  Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor, 
1909-10,  p.  504;  Washington,  2nd  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  1897-98,  p.  157. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  estimated  that  fees 
amounting  to  $1,000,000  were  paid  to  private  agencies  in  Chicago  in  one  year, 
and  that  the  same  number  of  persons  could  secure  positions  through  public 
agencies  at  less  than  half  the  cost. 

Illinois,  10th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1898, 
p.  135. 

While  these  estimates  are  of  slight  value  in  showing  the  actual  saving  to  the  peo- 
ple of  a  state. 

See  above,  pp.  60-88;  Massachusetts,  Report  of  Commission  to  In- 
vestigate Employment  Offices,  1911,  pp.  12-13,  74. 

.  they  are  of  immense  value  in  showing  the  purpose  and  aims  of  the  institu- 
tions, and  consequently  of  explaining  their  failure  to  organize  the  labor 
market. 

Wide  publicity  was  given  to  the  success  of  the  Ohio  public  agencies  in 
eliminating  and  regulating  the  private  employment  agencies,  and  at  the  same 
time  there  were  reports  of  the  futility  of  attempts  to  regulate  private  agen- 
cies by  direct  legislation,  for  it  was  alleged  that  the  charges  for  licenses 
and  bonds  were  merely  shifted  by  the  agencies  to  their  applicants,  thus 
injuring  them  still  more. 

Illinois,  10th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  1898, 
pp.  129-32;  Nebraska,  3rd  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1891-92,. 
p.  578. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  147 

Likewise  in  other  states,  after  public  agencies  were  established,  there  were 
similar  reports  in  regard  to  the  regulation  and  abolition  of  the  private  agencies 
by  this  competition. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  73;   Illinois,   10th   Biennial    Report  of   Bureau  of 
Labor    Statistics,    1898,    pp.    130-31;    Michigan,    24th    Annual    Report    of 
Bureau  of  Labor,  1907,  p.  398;  Michigan,  2nd  Annual  Report  of  Depart- 
ment of  Labor,   1911.  p.  29;   Missouri,  20th  Annual  Report  of   Bureau   of 
Labor   Statistics,   1898,  p.  219;   Ohio,   16th   Annual   Report   of   Bureau   of 
Labor  Statistics,  1892,  p.  17;  ibid.,  20th  Annual  Report,  1896,  p.  405;  ibid., 
24th  Annual  Report,   1900,  p.  440;  Rhode  Island,  24th  Annual  Report  of 
Bureau   of   Industrial   Statistics,   1910,  p.   223;   Washington,  2nd   Biennial 
Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1897-98,  p.  161. 
When  the  state  agencies  have  failed  to  exterminate  the  private  agencies, 
the  superintendents  have  in  some   cases  urged   that   the  private   agencies  be 
outlawed  and  abolished  either  by  excessive  license  fees  or  by  direct  legisla- 
tion, and  when  the  state  agencies  were  first  established  in  Illinois  they  were 
accompanied  by  regulations  of  private  agencies  intended   to  eliminate  them. 
Ohio,  20th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1896,  p.  405; 
•  Michigan,  2nd  Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor,  1911,  p.  47;  Illi- 
nois employment  agency  laws  of  1899  and  1903. 

In  some  cases  the  superintendents  have  admitted  their  inability  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  private  agencies  and  have  urged  the  regulation  of  pri- 
vate agencies  by  licenses  and  bonds  and  inspection,  while  the  superintendent 
of  one  public  agency  urged  that  a  larger  appropriation  be  granted  in  order 
to  enable  the  public  agency  to  compete  successfully  with  the  private  agen- 
cies. 

Colorado,  12th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1909- 
10,  p.  198. 

There  were  other  more  objective  indications  of  the  police  protection  and 
charity  purpose  of  the  public  employment  agencies.  One  of  these  is  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  generally  assumed,  without  any  consideration  of  the  ques- 
tion, that  these  public  agencies  are  necessarily  free  agencies.  Until  1906  the 
question  was  not  raised  at  all,  except  in  Los  Angeles,  where  a  fee  of  25  cents 
was  charged  to  the  applicant  for  employment  after  1904;  previously  the  ab- 
sence of  fees  was  merely  assumed  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  public  agen- 
cies. There  were  arguments  against  public  agencies  on  the  ground  that  be- 
cause they  were  free,  they  would  attract  the  shiftless,  that  the  applicants 
would  be  careless  about  going  to  the  positions  offered,  and  that  they  would 
not  be  patronized  by  the  self-respecting  workers. 

See,  especially,  California,  9th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  1899-1900,  pp.  79-80. 

Such  arguments  were  not  raised,  however,  to  prove  that  fees  should  be 
charged  in  the  public  agencies,  but  to  prove  that  regulation  of  private  agen- 
cies by  licenses  and  inspection  was  preferable  to  the  competition  of  public 
agencies.  After  1906  the  question  of  whether  fees  should  be  charged  by  pub- 
lic agencies  was  raised  and  is  an  indication  of  a  change  in  attitude  toward 
the  purpose  of  such  institutions. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  4,  8-10 ;  Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  39 ;  Massachusetts, 
Report  of  Commission  'to  Investigate  Employment  Offices,  1911,  pp.  77-79; 
Massachusetts,  38th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1907,  pp. 
430-32. 

Another  indication  of  the  relationship  between  the  movement  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  public  agencies  and  the  imputed  evils  of  the  private  agencies 
is  the  failure  to  establish  such  public  agencies  during  the  industrial  depres- 
sion of  1892-95.  During  this  period,  in  which  there  was  a  vast  amount  of  un- 
employment and  studies  were  being  made  in  several  states  to  determine  the 
extent  of  unemployment  and  the  best  means  to  reduce^  it,  little  success  ^at- 
tended the  efforts  to  establish  public  employment  agencies.  But  at  the  time 
of  the  depression  the  attention  was  centered  on  unemployment  rather  than 
on  the  protection  of  the  unemployed.  Consequently,  the  contention  was 
raised  more  during  this  period  than  at  any  other  time  that  public  agencies 


148 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

had  succeeded  in  doing  little  more  than  take  the  places  of  some  of  the  pri- 
vate agencies  and  had  not  succeeded  in  reducing  the  amount  of  unemploy- 
ment. Unemployment  in  itself  did  not  seem  to  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  the 
establishment  of  such  offices.  In  Massachusetts  a  careful  study  was  made  of 
the  various  solutions  of  the  problem  of  unemployment,  and  in  both  1893  and 
1895  it  was  recommended  that  the  expense  incurred  in  the  maintenance  of 
public  agencies  did  not  justify  their  existence,  and  in  1895  it  was  urged  in 
addition,  that  instead  of  attempting  to  drive  out  the  private  employment  agen- 
cies, as  had  been  attempted  in  Ohio,  the  state  should  have  a  series  of  reports 
from  different  parts  of  the  state  in  regard  to  the  labor  market,  so  that  thereby 
it  would  be  possible  for  workers  all  over  the  state  to  have  information  regard- 
ing the  possibilities  of  work. 

Massachusetts,  Report  of  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the 
Unemployed,  1895,  Part.  V,  pp.  lii-lxiii. 

In  addition,  the  failure  of  bills  for  the  establishment  of  public  agencies  in 
Iowa,  California,  Massachusetts  and  Missouri  during  this  period  is  to  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  when  the  attention  was  centered  on  the  means  of 
reducing  unemployment,  the  public  employment  agency  offered  to  them  no 
solution  of  the  problem. 

The  Rhode  Island  state  agency,  however,  was  established  as  the  direct 
result  of  the  industrial  depression  of  1907-08;  a  census  of  the  unemployed  was 
taken,  and  the  information  secured  in  this  census  was  the  basis  for  the  de- 
mands for  public  agencies  which  should  have  the  function  of  decreasing  the 
amount  of  unemployment.  This  same  tendency  was  manifested  previously  in 
Massachusetts  in  the  law  of  1906,  which  was  passed  after  seven  previous  bills, 
introduced  into  the  legislature  during  the  period  from  1893  to  1905,  had  failed. 
Aside  from  these  two  agencies,  there  are  no  clear  cases  of  the  establishment 
of  public  employment  agencies  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  or  decreasing 
unemployment. 

Conner  states,  loc.  cit.,  p.  67,  that  the  Seattle  municipal  agency  was 
established  without  reference  to  the  evils  of  the  private  employment  agen- 
cies. There  is  little  evidence  accessible  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of 
this  agency,  but  there  are  evidences,  to  which  reference  is  made  above, 
pp.  146-147,  that  it  was  maintained  partly,  at  least,  as  a  competitor  of  pri- 
vate agencies. 

It  would  be  fallacious,  however,  to  assume  that  the  movement  for  the 
establishment  of  public  employment  agencies  can  be  explained  entirely  in 
terms  of  the  evils  of  the  private  employment  agencies.  Various  other  factors 
appear,  and  the  entire  situation  must  be  taken  into  consideration  for  an  ade- 
quate explanation  of  the  movement.  But  these  other  factors  are  vague,  in- 
definite and  distinctly  secondary  in  the  ideals  of  the  agencies  before  1906  and 
in  mos't  of  the  agencies  since  1906. 

There  were  some  assumptions  that  the  public  agencies  would  reduce  the 
amount  of  unemployment. 

California,  5th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  1891-92, 
pp.  12-13;  Colorado,  1st  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1887-88,  pp.  368-69;  Illinois,  10th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics, 1898,  pp.  44-45;  Maryland,  9th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics, 1900,  p.  Ill;  Michigan,  29th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor, 
1912,  p.  18;  New  York,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1896,  p.  1023;  Ohio,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 
1890,  p.  25;  Oklahoma,  3rd  Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor,  1909- 
10,  p.  504;  Rhode  Island,  22nd  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Industrial 
Statistics,  1908,  p.  563. 

but  there  was  no  definite  argument  to  show  how  such  public  agencies  would 
accomplish  this,  and  practically  no  attempt  to  show  that  public  agencies  would 
have  any  advantage  over  other  kinds  of  employment  agencies,  except  in  the 
fact  that  they  were  free — which  fact  was  merely  taken  for  granted  as  a  nec- 
essary part  of  the  public  agency — and  that  they  would  not  be  fraudulent.  In 
one  case  it  was  argued  that  they  would  be  more  efficient  than  private  agen- 
cies because  disinterested,  but  even  by  this  it  was  not  meant  that  they  would 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 149 

be  more  efficient  in  decreasing  unemployment,  but  only  in  serving  the  em- 
ployers, since  their  disinterestedness  would  enable  them  to  choose  workers 
who  were  adapted  to  the  positions  offered  by  employers,  while  private  agen- 
cies sent  any  available  -worker  in  order  to  get  the  fees. 

Connecticut,  17th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1901, 

p.  12;  Ohio,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1890,  p.  25. 

And  more  recently  the  Commissioner  of  the  Department  of  Labor  of 
Oklahoma,  has  claimed  that  the  public  agencies  of  that  state  saved  $51,252 
to  the  state  in  one  year  because  positions  were  filled  more  quickly  than  they 
would  have  been  in  private  agencies. 

Oklahoma,  3rd  Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor,   1909-10,   p. 

504.     This  claim,  however,  has  no  justification  from  any  facts  presented 

in  the  report. 

There  were  other  arguments  that  such  public  agencies  would  be  a  net 
financial  saving  to  the  people  of  the  state, 

California,  5th   Biennial   Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor   Statistics,   1891- 
92,  pp.  12-13;  Connecticut,  15th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
•  tics.  1899,  pp.  137-70;  Ohio,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics, 1890,  p.  19;  Washington,  2nd  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  1897-98,  p.  157. 
would  reduce  the  amount  of  charity  and  crime, 

California,  5th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1891-92, 
pp.  12-13;  Connecticut,  15th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 

1899,  pp.   137-38;   Maryland,  9th  Annual   Report  of   Bureau   of  Statistics, 

1900,  p.  Ill;  Massachusetts,  34th  Annual   Report  of  Statistics  of   Labor, 
1903,  p.  210;  New  York,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
tics, 1896,  p.  1023;  Ohio,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
tics, 1890,  p.  25;  ibid.,  16th  Annual  Report,  1892,  pp.  12-13;  Oklahoma,  2nd 
Annual  Report  of  Department  of  Labor,  1908-09,  p.  13;  West  Virginia,  7th 
Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1901-02,  pp.  93-94. 

and  would  decrease  the  necessity  of  tramping  in  search  of  work. 

Iowa,  4th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1890,  pp. 
2-3;  North  Carolina,  7th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1893,  pp.  629-30;  Rhode  Island,  24th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Industrial 
Statistics,  1910,  p.  223;  Wisconsin,  10th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of 
Labor,  1900-01,  p.  761. 

In  these  arguments  there  seems  to  be  a  vague  conception  of  something 
else  than  protection  of  the  unemployed  from  the  private  employment  agen- 
cies, but  there  is  no  specific  indication  of  how  it  was  expected  that  these  re- 
sults would  be  accomplished  by  the  public  agencies,  or  what  advantage  the 
public  agencies  would  have  over  the  non-public  agencies  except  in  regard  to 
the  greater  honesty  of  the  public  agencies  and  the  free  service. 

In  Massachusetts  and  a  few  of  the  other  states,  since  1906,  it  has  been 
claimed  that  public  agencies  would  assist  employers  and  employes  to  meet 
and  would  thereby  be  of  service  to  both  parties.  It  was  contended  in  Iowa 
very  indefinttely, 

Iowa,  4th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1890,  pp.  2-3, 
and  in  Massachusetts,  in  1895,  much  more  definitely  that  the  private  and  phil- 
anthropic agencies  did  not  secure  definite  information  in  regard  to  the  gen- 
eral labor  market  of  the  state;  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  1895,  however,  con- 
sidered that  public  employment  agencies,  also,  would  be  inadequate  to  secure 
such  information. 

Massachusetts,  Report  of  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the  Un- 
employed, 1895,  Part  V,  p.  Ixii. 

The  Michigan  Commission  of  Labor  made  a  still  more  definite  approach 
to  the  question  of  unemployment  in  the  argument  that  labor  is  a  perishable 
commodity,  that  both  employer  and  employe  suffer  if  all  the  opportunities 
for  employment  are  not  filled  and  that  therefore  it  is  necessary  to  supplement 
the  industrial  organization  by  means  of  public  employment  agencies. 

Michigan,  29th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1912,  p.  18. 


150 REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  public  agencies  were  expected  to  help  em- 
ployers as  well  as  workingmen,  but  there  have  been  no  attempts  to  show  definitely 
how  this  would  be  accomplished,  except  in  the  efforts  to  assist  farmers  to  secure 
agricultural  laborers,  in  which  case  the  expected  assistance  to  the  farmers  has 
been  concisely  formulated. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  52-53;  Kansas,  1st  Annual  Report  of  Director  of 
Free  Employment  Bureau,  1901,  pp.  6-8;  New  York,  17th  Annual  Report 
of  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  1910,  pp.  162-73;  Ibid.,  19th  Annual  Re- 
port, 1912,  pp.  334-40;  Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  140. 

It  may  be  concluded,  then,  that  the  public  employment  agencies  have 
been  established  and  maintained  primarily  and  almost  entirely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  protecting  the  unemployed  against  the  private  employment  agencies, 
and  of  enabling  them  to  secure  employment  without  paying  fees.  They  have 
not  had  the  purpose,  characteristically,  of  reducing  unemployment,  nor  have 
they  been  established  to  solve  the  problem  of  unemployment.  Their  meth- 
ods have,  consequently,  been  determined  with  reference  to  competition  with 
private  employment  agencies.  Therefore,  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why 
the  public  employment  agencies  have  not  succeeded  in  organizing  the  labor 
market  as  the  students  of  unemployment  demand. 

Failure  of  the  public  employment  agencies  to  organize  the  labor  market 
is  explained,  also,  by  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no  general  and  active 
public  demand  for  them.  It  is  reported  that  the  Seattle  agency  was  the  result 
of  an  almost  unanimous  vote  of  the  people  of  the  city, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  67. 

and  there  has  been  competition  between  cities  in  Connecticut,  Massachu- 
setts, Minnesota  and  Ohio  to  secure  the  location  of  agencies; 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  11,  38-39;  Ohio,  29th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  1905,  pp.  9-10. 

this  interest  seems  to  be  confined,  however,  largely  to  the  rivalry  between 
cities  in  the  desire  to  have  equal  facilities,  for  it  is  reported  that  the  public  in 
general  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  have  shown  no  desire  for  such 
agencies, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  11;  Massachusetts,  Report  of  Board  to  Investigate 
the  Subject  of  the  Unemployed,  1895,  Part  V,  p.  Ixii, 

while  in  other  states  it  has  been  complained  that  the  public  was  apathetic  and 
ignorant  of  the  existence  of  these  agencies,  or  even  slightly  hostile. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  32,  42;  Indiana,  14th  Biennial  Report  of  Depart- 
ment of  Statistics,  1911-12,  p.  69;  Maryland,  15th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau 
of  Statistics,  1906,  p.  125. 

There  has  been  no  vital  connection  between  the  general  public  and  the 
movement  for  the  establishment  of  the  public  employment  agencies. 

Conner  has  stated  that  "the  active  supporters  of  this  movement  are  the 
labor  unions." 

Loc.  cit.,  p.  88. 

The  Ohio  law  was  drafted  by  the  Municipal  Labor  Congress  of  Cincinnati, 
the  central  labor  organization  of  the  city; 

Ohio,  14th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1890,  pp. 
20-21. 

in  Portland  the  idea  of  a  municipal  employment  agency  was  presented  to  the 
mayor  by  the  Central  Labor  Council,  which,  also,  has  assisted  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  agency  since  its  establishment; 

Oregon,  4th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1908-10, 
p.  73. 

in  Tacoma  the  unions  secured  the  sanction  of  both  political  parties  to  a  bill 
for  such  agencies  and  pushed  it  through  the  council; 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  72. 
while  in  Montana. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  50. 


REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT  151 

Colorado, 

Colorado,  12th   Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1909- 
10,  p.  194. 
and  Los  Angeles, 

Conner,  loc.-  cit.,  p.  8.. 

the  public  agencies  are  reported  to  be  the  result  primarily  of  the  activities 
of  the  labor  unions.  The  unions  favored  the  passage  of  laws  or  were  more  or 
less  active  in  urging  them  in  Connecticut, 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  11. 
in  Iowa  in  1893  and  again  in  1906, 

Iowa,  5th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1893,  p.  12; 
Downey,  History  of  Labor  Legislation  in  Iowa,  p.  189. 
in  Indiana, 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  42. 
Nebraska, 

Nebraska,  4th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1893-94,  p.  529. 
Rhode  Island, 

Sargent,   loc.   cit.,   p.   119. 
and    Wisconsin. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  78. 

But  these  reports  of  agitation  and  demand  by  trade  unions  are  not  speci- 
fic; the  demands  seem  to  mean  in  many  cases  only  that  some  unions  passed 
resolutions  in  favor  of  such  agencies,  which  may  mean  only  that  the  unions 
were  not  hostile  to  them.  In  California  the  unions  assisted  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor,  who  had  opened  a  public  employment  agency  in  San  Fran- 
cisco without  specific  legislative  enactment,  by  collecting  funds  from  the  pub- 
lic for  the  maintenance  of  such  an  agency. 

E.  L.  Bogart,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  14:359.  May,  1900. 
In   Oklahoma   the   State    Federation   of   Labor,   the   Central   Trades   and 
Labor  Council  of  Oklahoma  City  and  the  Painters'  and  Decorators'  Union  of 
Oklahoma  City  urged  that  the  first  state  agency  be  moved  from  Guthrie  to 
Oklahoma  City. 

Oklahoma,    1st   Annual    Report   of   Department   of   Labor,    1908,   pp. 
171-72. 

In  Missouri  the  unions  were  not  influential  in  the  establishment  of 
public  agencies,  but  have  urged  an  extension  of  the  services  to  other  cities. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  42. 

In  Illinois,  where,  also,  the  unions  were  not  active  in  securing  the  pas- 
sage of  the  act,  they  have  in  some  cases  urged  an  extension  of  the  system; 
in  1913  at  a  joint  meeting  of  eight  organizations  of  cooks  and  waiters  in 
Chicago  a  resolution  was  adopted  demanding  the  abolition  of  private  em- 
ployment agencies,  and  the  extension  of  the  state  employment  agencies;  this 
resolution  was  endorsed  by  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  on  March  2, 
1913,  and  the  legislative  committee  of  the  Federation  was  instructed  to  use 
efforts  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  bill  to  that  effect. 

Minutes  of  meeting  of  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor,  March  2,  1913. 

On  the   other  hand   the   trade  unions  have  been   quite  definitely  hostile 

to  the  establishment  of  such  agencies  in  other  cases.     In  New  Jersey  a  bill 

presented  to  the  legislature  in  1907  failed,  mainly  because  of  the  opposition 

of  the  trade  unions. 

Letter  from  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  New  Jersey, 
May  6,  '12. 

In  1896  a  citizens'  committee  in  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  had  plans  under 
way  for  the  establishment  of  a  municipal  agency,  but  the  plans  were  aban- 
doned because  of  the  opposition  of  the  unions  of  that  city. 

Bogart,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  14:363-64,  May,  1900; 
Conner,  however,  states  that  in  1905  the  unions  of  Michigan  as  a  whole 
were  not  inimical  to  this  movement.  Loc.  cit.,  p.  35. 


152 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

In  Massachusetts,  though  the  unions  seemed  indifferent  in  1893, 

Massachusetts,  24th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1893, 
p.  263. 

they  manifested  opposition  in  1895  because  of  the  fear  that  such  agencies 
would  be  used  to  secure  strike-breakers  for  the  employers. 

Massachusetts,  Report  of  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the 
Unemployed,  1895,  Part  V,  pp.  Ix-lxi. 

Moreover,  President  Gompers  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  has 
expressed  the  fear  that  such  agencies  will  be  used  for  strike-breaking  pur- 
poses, and  for  the  distribution  of  immigrants  to  take  the  places  of  Americans, 
and  maintains  that  these  agencies  are  a  subtle  scheme  of  the  steamship  com- 
binations and  employers'  associations  to  get  cheap  labor  in  the  United 
States;  he  believes  that  trade  union  agencies  for  migratory  labor  will  be 
much  more  effective  than  public  agencies  could  be. 

S.  Gompers,  American  Federationist,  17:993-95,  Nov.,  '10,  and  19: 
43-44,  Jan.,  '12. 

The  commissioners  of  labor  of  some  states  have  asked  the  trade  unions 
or  some  of  the  individual  trade  unions  in  regard  to  legislation  that  is  con- 
sidered desirable;  the  replies  should  be  indicative  of  whether  the  trade  unions 
consider  public  employment  agencies  essential.  In  Iowa  in  1903  replies  were 
secured  from  170  unions,  representing  46  different  occupations,  and  no  demand 
for  public  agencies  was  made  by  any  of  these,  though  the  unions  had  twice 
given  their  formal  endorsement  to  the  public  agencies; 

Iowa,  llth  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  1903-04, 
pp.  292-94. 

in  Missouri  in  1901  replies  were  received  from  71  unions,  one  of  which  urged 
an  extension  of  the  state  employment  agencies; 

Missouri,  23d  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  1901, 
pp.  342-57. 

in  Colorado  in  1899  the  commissioner  asked  706  individual  members  whether 
they  favored  or  opposed  public  employment  agencies;  of  these  662  are  re- 
ported as  favoring  public  agencies,  44  as  opposing;  but  when  they  were 
asked  for  general  expressions  of  desires  for  legislation,  and  no  reference 
was  made  to  public  agencies  in  the  question,  only  eleven  out  of  706  men- 
tioned them. 

Colorado,  7th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1899- 
1900,  pp.  99-124. 

In  these  replies,  in  which  public  agencies  receive  such  slight  attention, 
there  are  many  other  demands  which  have  a  bearing  on  unemployment, 
either  by  increasing  the  demand  for  labor  or  by  restricting  the  supply  of 
workers;  such  demands  are  represented  by  the  following:  snorter  workday, 
child  labor  laws,  apprenticeship  laws,  requirement  that  railways  do  all  their 
repair  work  in  the  state,  requirement  that  work  on  state  buildings  be  per- 
formed by  citizens  of  the  state,  printing  text-books  in  the  state,  preventing 
convicts  from  learning  stone-cutting,  etc.  Thus  it  appears  that  when  the 
unions  have  their  attention  called  to  the  public  agencies,  they  are  sometimes 
favorable,  but  do  not  attribute  great  importance  to  such  agencies. 

On  the  whole  it  cannot  be  stated  that  there  has  been  any  consistent  trade 
union  attitude  toward  this  movement;  they  have  been  very  active  and  en- 
ergetic in  a  few  cases,  and  are  undoubtedly  directly  responsible  for  the 
establishment  of  a  few  of  the  agencies.  But  many  of  the  resolutions  and 
so-called  demands  do  not  have  great  significance.  The  most  wide-spread 
attitude,  so  far  as  the  evidence  justifies  a  generalization,  is  that  the  unions 
have  been  indifferent  toward  the  establishment  of  such  agencies  and  equally 
indifferent  in  regard  to  their  success.  The  trade  unions  have  not  expected 
any  assistance  for  their  own  members  from  such  agencies,  and  undoubtedly 
would  oppose  the  extension  of  these  agencies  to  include  their  own  members; 

See  below,  pp.   123-28,   137-38. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 153 

in  so  far  as  the  unions  have  manifested  a  favorable  attitude  toward  public 
agencies  it  has  been  with  the  prospect  of  assisting  the  unorganized  and  un- 
skilled workers.  This  friendly  attitude  is  due,  first,  to  sympathy  with  the 
unemployed,  partly  because  of  the  unemployment  itself,  and  partly  because 
of  the  reputed  impositions  on  the  unemployed  by  the  private  employment 
agencies;  secondly,  to  the  desire  to  decrease  the  number  of  the  unemployed 
as  much  as  possible  in  order  to  facilitate  the  operation  of  their  own  policies, 
for  the  presence  of  the  unemployed  person  in  the  labor  market  is  regarded 
as  a  great  hindrance  to  the  securing  of  the  demands  of  the  unions;  any 
method  of  decreasing  the  number  of  the  unemployed,  by  reducing  the  poten- 
tial competition,  would  be  interpreted  as  promoting  the  union  program. 

On  the  other  hand,  opposition  to  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  such  public  agencies  has  been  expressed  by  the  trade  unions,  and  is  based 
on  the  arguments  that  public  agencies  would  facilitate  immigration  and 
thereby  increase  the  potential  competition,  and  that  in  industrial  disturbances 
such  agencies  would  be  a  positive  menace  to  the  trade  union  policies  by 
assisting  .employers  to  secure  strike-breakers.  In  addition  there  is  some 
opposition  on  the  ground  that  the  workers  should  combine  for  their  own  pro- 
tection, and  that  the  state-care  represented  in  a  bureaucratic  system,  such 
as  the  public  employment  agencies  are  considered  to  exemplify,  is  degrading. 
Consequently,  the  trade  unions  are  attempting  to  organize  the  unskilled 
workers  and  establish  co-operative,  rather  than  governmental  employment 
agencies  for  them.  This  plan  is  an  additional  incentive  to  opposition  to 
the  public  agencies,  since  such  public  agencies  would  decrease  the  advantages 
to  be  offered  to  unskilled  workers  as  a  result  of  organization  into  unions. 

The  trade  union  attitude,  in  so  far  as  it  is  indifferent,  is  not  merely  the 
indifference  of  the  general  public,  but  is  due  to  their  emphasis  on  other 
policies  for  preventing  unemployment  and  for  improving  conditions  of  em- 
ployment. 

President  Gompers  has  written,  "In  the  prevailing  judgment  of 
trade  unionists,  the  order  in  which  protection  to  the  workers  should 
come  from  the  state  does  not  bring  labor  exchanges  to  the  forefront 
in  this  country.  .  .  Before  trade  unions  can  devote  much  time  to  the 
promotion  of  labor  exchanges,  they  want  better  factory  and  mine 
inspection,  better  methods  of  protection  against  accidents,  a  better 
system  of  compensation  for  accidents,  better  child-labor  laws — yea,  a 
heap  of  better  conditions  for  the  wage-earners  at  work."  American 
Federationst,  17:993-95,  Nov.,  '10. 

Unions  insist  on  a  shorter  workday  and  one  of  the  reasons  given  for  this 
is  that  it  will  make  work  for  more  employes,  and  hence  prevent  unemploy- 
ment; and  there  are  many  other  demands,  which,  according  to  their  theory, 
have  a  much  more  important  bearing  on  unemployment  than  do  the  public 
employment  agencies — such  as  restriction  of  immigration  and  prevention 
of  child  labor.  It  is  not  necessary  to  agree  with  the  validity  of  this  logic 
in  order  to  realize  its  importance  in  determining  the  attitude  of  the  unions 
toward  the  establishment  of  public  agencies. 

Hourwich  seems  to  have  missed  the  point  of  the  trade  union  atti- 
tude when  he  states  that  "organized  labor  prefers  to  leave  the  dis- 
tribution of  labor  in  the  hands  of  padroni  and  employment  agents." 
Immigration  and  Labor,  p.  147. 

Consequently  there  seems  to  have  been  no  strong  and  recognized  trade 
union  attitude  that  would  make  it  necessary  for  legislators  to  consider  the 
public  agencies  as  supported  and  favored  by  the  unions. 

A  study  of  the  accessible  facts  shows,  also,  that  the  employers  and  the 
employers'  associations  have  made  no  clear  demand  for  public  employment 
agencies.  In  fact,  Conner  states  that  the  most  active  opponents  of  the  public 
employment  agencies  have  been  the  anti-union  employers'  associations,  the 
citizens'  industrial  associations  and  the  manufacturers'  associations. 

Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  88. 


154 REPORT  OF  THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

But  such  associations  have  by  no  means  been  unanimous  in  their  oppo- 
sition. The  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Baltimore  advertised  the  public 
agency  of  that  city  by  sending  to  all  its  members  letters  announcing  the 
opening  of  the  agency. 

Maryland,  12th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Statistics,  1903,  p.  95. 
In   some   of   the  public   agencies   unskilled  help   is   furnished   for   employers' 
associations. 

Sargent,  loc.  cit.,  p.  42. 

In  two  of  the  Wisconsin  agencies  and  in  the  municipal  agencies  in  Port- 
land, Tacoma  and  Everett  the  employers'  associations  co-operate  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  public  agencies.  On  the  other  hand  the  fact  that  the  Evans- 
ville,  Indiana,  Manufacturers'  Association  opened  an  employment  agency 
under  their  control  in  that  city  at  the  same  time  the  public  agency  was 
opened  there  might  be  indicative  of  opposition. 

Indiana,  14th  Biennial  Report  of  Department  of  Statistics,  1911-12, 
p.  69. 

But  the  only  notable  and  clear  cases  of  opposition  to  public  agencies  by 
employers'  associations  have  been  in  Iowa  and  Illinois,  and  both  of  these 
are  explicable  in  view  of  particular  local  conditions.  In  Iowa  the  employ- 
ers opposed  the  efforts  for  the  establishment  of  public  agencies  in  1892  and 
1894,  but  the  most  ardent  advocate  and  supporter  of  this  movement,  and  the 
one  in  whose  control  the  agencies,  if  established,  would  be  placed,  was  J.  R. 
Sovereign,  Commissioner  of  the  State  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  who  was 
at  the  same  time  the  State  Master  Workman  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and 
had  published  a  labor  journal  for  seven  years.  The  Iowa  State  Manufactur- 
ers' Association  and  the  Citizens'  Industrial  Alliance  opposed  the  estab- 
lishment of  public  agencies  in  1906,  also;  but  again  they  feared  that  the 
agencies  would  be  under  the  control  of  the  unions  of  the  state,  and  would 
either  formally  or  informally  make  it  impossible  for  non-union  workers  to 
secure  employment. 

See  letter  sent  to  the  members  of  the  Association  by  the  legis- 
lative committee  of  the  State  Manufacturers'  Association,  urging  op- 
position to  the  proposed  law,  in  Conner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  92-93;  Downey, 
op.  cit,  p.  190. 

Some  of  the  employers  in  Illinois,  also,  opposed  the  law  of  1899,  and 
assisted  in  testing  its  constitutionality;  but  this  law  had  a  provision  that 
public  agencies  should  not  assist  employers  in  times  of  strike;  the  principal 
objective  of  the  employers  in  their  opposition  seemed  to  be  this  clause. 

Illinois,  6th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1904, 
p.  3. 

Other  employers  than  those  represented  in  associations  have  developed 
no  clear  or  consistent  attitude  toward  public  employment  agencies.  They 
have  manifested  no  characteristic  attitude  either  of  opposition  or  of  urgent 
support. 

See,  however,  Oklahoma,  1st  Annual  Report  of  Department  of 
Labor,  1908,  p.  172;  Massachusetts,  24th  Annual  Report  of  Statistics 
of  Labor,  1893,  p.  263. 

Thus  the  employers  as  a  whole  have  made  no  consistent  or  active  demand 
for  public  agencies.  Their  attitude  has  been  most  generally  one  of  indiffer- 
ence, and  their  replies  are  indicative  of  little  consideration  of  the  question. 
In  some  cases  their  hostility  is  due  to  two  underlying  attitudes — an  opposi- 
tion to  all  extension  of  state  functions  except  such  as  promote  the  interests 
of  business,  and  a  desire  to  keep  the  labor  force  under  their  own  control,  and 
to  retain  the  ability  to  debar  union  agitators  from  their  employment  without 
the  publicity  that  would  be  necessary  if  formal  requests  to  that  effect  were 
made  in  patronizing  public  agencies.  Some  employers  have  shown  a  kindly 
and  sympathetic  interest  in  these  agencies  as  a  means  of  solving  the  problem 
of  unemployment,  and  a  business  interest  in  improving  the  facilities  for 
securing  labor. 


REPORT  OF   THE  MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT U5 

Farmers  have  been  active  in  advocating  public  agencies  in  a  few  cases 
in  which   the  primary  purpose  was   to   assist   them   in   securing   agricultural 
labor,  as  in  the  Kansas  agencies,  but  as  a  whole  the  farmers  have  had  no 
appreciable  effect  on  the  movement. 
Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  11. 

In  the  large,  the  public  employment  agencies  have  resulted  from  the 
work  of  the  commissioners  of  labor  of  the  different  states,  who  have  been 
able  to  succeed  in  their  efforts,  not  because  of  a  general  public  demand 
or  a  demand  backed  by  strong  and  persistent  interests,  but  because  of  a  lack 
of  general  opposition.  Some  of  the  commissioners  have  made  frank  state- 
ments of  the  individual  origination  of  the  public  agencies.  Mr.  David  Ross, 
Secretary  of  the  Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  stated  in  regard  to  the 
public  agency  law  of  Illinois,  "I  am  pleased  to  report  that  that  measure 
emanated  absolutely  from  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor." 

Proceedings  of  17th  Annual  Convention  of  Officials  of  Bureaus  of 
Labor  Statistics,  1901,  p.  160. 

Eight  public  agencies  have  been  established  by  these  commissioners  without 
legislative  enactment. 

See  above,  p.  60. 

Moreover,  the  general  account  of  the  motivation  of  the  public  agencies 
reveals  the  close  connection  between  the  public  agencies  and  the  commis- 
sioners of  labor. 

See  above,  pp.  90-101. 

The  commissioners  would  have  been  unable  to  succeed  in  their  efforts 
except  for  the  problem  presented  by  the  existence  and  exploitation  of  the 
unemployed,  but  so  far  as  agitation  and  demands  for  agencies  influenced  the 
legislatures,  the  commissioners  seem  to  have  been  primarily  the  ones  to 
whom  the  movement  owes  its  origin  and  existence. 

Because  of  this  lack  of  a  strong,  persistent  popular  demand  for  the 
public  agencies,  together  with  the  purpose  generally  inherent  in  the  efforts 
to  secure  such  agencies,  there  has  been  no  sufficient  financial  support  of 
the  public  agencies  and  no  development  of  methods  and  technique  adequate 
to  an  organization  of  the  labor  market.  And  it  has  been  possible,  moreover, 
for  these  agencies  to  be  regarded  as  opportunities  for  political  appointment^, 
which  would  make  their  efficient  management  extremely  difficult. 

Complaints  have  frequently  been  made  in  regard  to  the  meagre  financial 
support, 

W.  M.  Leiserson,  Compte  Rendu  de  la  Conference  International 
du  Chomage,  1910,  Vol.  II,  p.  7;  Michigan,  24th  Annual  Report  of 
Bureau  of  Labor,  1907,  p.  388. 

and  the  failure  of  some  of  the  public  agencies  has  been  explained  as  due  to 
the  inadequacies  of  their  resources. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  pp. 
14,  124;  Conner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  S3. 

The  appropriations  for  various  offices  range  between  $15,856.11,  which  was 
expended  by  the  Boston  office  in  1911 — which  is  probably  the  best  equipped 
agency  under  public  control  in  the  United  States — to  nothing,  as  was  the 
case  the  first  year  in  the  Indiana  agencies.  The  appropriations  for  the  Ohio 
agencies  seem  to  be  typical;  in  1910  these  agencies  expended  an  average 
of  $443.25  each,  in  addition  to  the  salaries  of  a  superintendent  and  a  clerk  in 
each  office. 

Because  of  these  small  appropriations,  the  public  agencies  have  been 
unable  to  advertise  at  all,  or  have  advertised  only  intermittently  and  scantily; 
they  have  been  unable  to  have  business  agents  conferring  with  employers; 
they  have  been  unable  to  secure  quarters  that  would  permit  of  separation 
of  the  skilled  from  the  unskilled  workers,  or  even  to  have  adequate  tele- 
phonic communication  with  the  employers.  There  has  been  in  most  cities 
no  one  man  who  was  a  student  of  the  situation,  and  who  had  the  problem 


156 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

of  adjusting  the  agencies  to  the  demands  of  the  situations.  The  superin- 
tendents and  clerks  have  frequently  been  compelled  to  do  other  work  than 
that  for  the  unemployed,  either  for  the  bureau  of  labor  statistics  or  for  the 
school  board. 

Moreover,  the  public  agencies  have  been  regarded  as  political  possi- 
bilities, and  the  superintendents  have  been  changed  frequently  with  changes 
in  political  parties,  thus  preventing  a  continuity  of  plans  or  policies,  as 
well  as  a  lack  of  interest  in  long-time  policies.  In  only  three  states  are 
these  offices  under  civil  service,  and  even  civil  service  is  not  entirely  suc- 
cessful in  eliminating  changes  for  political  reasons.  In  Ohio  the  changes 
in  the  commissioners  of  labor  in  1892,  1896,  1898  and  1900  were  attended 
by  changes  in  from  two  to  all  of  the  superintendents  of  the  agencies.  These 
frequent  changes  in  control  prevent  consistent  development  of  public  agencies 
along  business  lines,  and  have  been  largely  instrumental  in  the  failure  to  or- 
ganize the  labor  market. 

Both  the  inadequate  financial  support  and  the  resulting  inadequate 
methods  and  the  political  connections  of  the  public  agencies  are  the  result 
of  jthe  lack  of  a  strong  popular  demand  for  the  public  agencies  and  of  the 
purpose  for  which  these  agencies  were  established  and  conducted. 

This  survey  of  the  development  and  activities  of  the  public  employment 
agency  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  they  have  not  succeeded  in  organizing 
the  labor  market,  they  have  been  local  and  distinct  centers,  patronized  pri- 
marily by  the  unskilled  laborers  and  domestic  servants;  they  have  neither 
secured  an  active  co-operation  with  other  public  agencies  nor  with  the  non- 
public  agencies,  and  hence  have  not  become  central  agencies  into  which  the 
others  could  pour  their  surplus  demands  and  supplies;  they  have  not  se- 
cured sufficient  information  about  the  labor  market  to  have  an  appreciable 
result  on  the  value  of  wandering  in  search  of  work,  and  hence  have  not 
been  influential  in  decreasing  that  custom.  There  are  probably  few  cities 
in  the  United  States  in  which  there  are  not  private  agencies  doing  a  more 
flourishing  business  than  the  public  agencies. 

This  failure  to  organize  the  labor  market  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact 
that  they  were  maintained,  not  for  the  purpose  .of  dealing  with  the  problem 
of  unemployment,  as  such,  but  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  unemployed 
against  the  alleged  dishonest  practices  of  private  employment  agencies  and  of 
furnishing  institutions  in  which  workers  could  secure  positions  without  the 
hardship  of  fees.  Moreover,  there  was  no  clear  and  insistent  demand  for 
such  agencies,  consequently  no  adequate  financial  support  to  enable  them 
to  develop  methods  and  a  technique  adequate  to  control  the  distribution  of 
labor,  or  to  secure  definite  and  continuous  information  in  regard  to  the 
demand  or  supply  in  the  labor  market.  They  have  been  political  openings 
for  the  party  in  control,  subject  to  frequent  changes,  and  a  continuity  of 
policies  has,  thus,  been  impossible. 

Consequently  it  may  be  concluded  that  no  factors  or  forces  appear  in 
this  analysis  which  are  inherent  in  the  situation  in  such  a  way  as  to  doom  any 
system  of  public  agencies  to  failure.  The  failure  of  these  public  agencies 
gives  no  basis  for  an  inference  that  any  public  agencies  must  fail  to  organ- 
ize the  labor  market.  The  organization  of  the  labor  market  is  a  function 
which  has  been  assigned  to  the  public  agencies  only  within  recent  years;  fail- 
ure to  perform  this  function  previously  was  due  to  the  fact  that  a  different 
problem  was  presented  in  the  earlier  years,  and  no  ideal  such  as  the  organi- 
zation of  the  market  was  essential  to  the  solution  of  that  problem.  The 
problem  of  the  public  agencies  has  been  the  protection  of  the  unemployed* 
rather  than  unemployment,  as  such;  failure  to  solve  this  larger  problem  was 
the  result  of  the  fact  that  they  were  not  trying  to  solve  it;  but  there  is  no 
justifiable  implication  from' this  that  the  problem  is  insoluble. 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 157 

CHAPTER  V. 


POSSIBILITIES  IN  THE  FUNCTIONING  OF  PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT 

AGENCIES. 

In  view  of  the  general  failure  of  public  employment  agencies  in  this 
country,  the  question  of  the  possibility  of  organizing  the  labor  market  by 
this  means  is  necessarily  raised.  Is  it  possible  to  secure  an  organization 
such  as  that  presented  as  a  standard  by  the  students  of  unemployment  in 
view  of  the  situation  in  which  the  agencies  are  to  be  located?  Is  the  dis- 
tribution of  employment  and  of  unemployment  such  as  to  permit  this  ideal 
program  to  work  out  successfully?  Is  the  attitude  of  the  trade  unions,  the 
employers'  associations  and  the  other  possible  patrons  of  the  agencies  such 
that  the  general  success  of  the  policy  seems  probable?  These  problems 
are  raised  particularly  with  reference  to  the  United  States;  some  indications, 
however,  of  the  possibilities  may  be  secured  from  the  operations  of  the 
public  employment  agencies  in  other  countries,  especially  in  England  and 
Germany. 

The  improvements  that  have  been  made  in  the  agencies  in  some  states 
and  cities  are  evidence  of  the  possibility  of  accomplishing  more  in  the  re- 
duction of  unemployment  than  has  ordinarily  been  accomplished  by  public 
agencies.  The  lively  interest  in  public  employment  agencies  in  recent  years 
is  evidence  of  an  increased  popular  demand  for  such  institutions,  and  this 
interest  will  be  a  more  adequate  basis  for  the  development  of  new  policies 
than  has  been  possible  heretofore.  This  is  apparent  particularly  in  the 
New  York  Commission  on  Unemployment  in  1911,  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
mission of  1910,  the  Chicago  Commission  of  1912,  the  formation  of  an  Amer- 
ican section  of  the  International  Association  on  Unemployment  and  the  re- 
organization of  the  Wisconsin  state  employment  agencies. 

These  modifications  are  an  evidence  and  a  result  of  the  shifting  of  the 
problem.  It  is  now  being  inferred  that  the  best  method  of  protecting  the  un- 
employed against  the  private  employment  agencies  is  by  statutory  regula- 
tion and  inspection,  and  the  function  of  the  public  agencies  is  shifting  to 
the  problem  of  unemployment  as  an  industrial  maladjustment.  This  change 
in  attitude  is  partly  due  to  a  realization  of  the  failure  to  eliminate  the  evils 
of  the  private  agencies  by  the  competition  of  public  agencies,  for  they  have 
generally  failed  even  in  that. 

Abbott,  loc.  cit,  14:289-305;  Conner,  loc.  cit,  p.  73;  Colorado, 
12th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1909-10,  p.  14; 
Illinois,  10th  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1898, 
p.  130;  Illinois,  13th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices, 
1911,  p.  7;  Indiana,  14th  Biennial  Report  of  Department  of  Statistics, 
1911-12,  pp.  12-13;  Kellor,  op.  cit.;  Maryland,  14th  Annual  Report  of 
Bureau  of  Statistics,  1905,  p.  175;  Massachusetts,  Commission  to  In- 
vestigate Employment  Offices,  1911,  p.  97;  Michigan,  1st  Annual  Re- 
port of  Department  of  Labor,  1910,  pp.  388-89;  ibid.,  2nd  Annual  Re- 
port, 1911,  p.  47;  Nebraska,  llth  Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor, 
1907-08,  p.  17;  Ohio.  20th  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1896,  pp.  405-06;  ibid.,  21st  Annual  Report,  1897,  p.  12;  ibid.,  24th  An- 
nual Report,  1900,  pp.  437-41;  Washington.  4th  Biennial  Report  of 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1903-04,  pp.  217-54. 

Some  private  agencies  even  maintained  that  the  public  agencies  have  been 
a  benefit  to  them  in  assisting  to  form  habits  of  depending  on  agencies  rather 
than  on  personal  application  for  employment,  and  in  draining  off  the  poorer 
workers  who  hamper  the  private  agencies. 

Illinois,  13th  Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices,  1911, 
p.  8. 

But  with   the   shift  in  attention  from   competition  with   the  private  agencies 
to    a    more    fundamental    solution    of    the    problem    of    unemployment,    there 


158 REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

have  been  modifications  of  methods  and  technique.  This  is  seen  particularly 
in  the  new  Wisconsin  agencies,  which  have  an  ideal  of  securing  a  virtual 
monopoly  of  placement,  not  necessarily  by  eliminating  the  private  agencies, 
but  by  securing  a  controlled  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  entire  labor  market 
which  would  eliminate  the  element  of  distinctness  and  separateness  of  the 
centers  in  the  market.  Such  a  system  will  undoubtedly  drive  a  number  of 
private  agencies  out  of  existence,  but  that  is  no  more  the  fundamental  pur- 
pose than  it  is  to  eliminate  the  previous  public  agencies  which  were  not 
doing  the  work  satisfactorily.  The  attempt  is  now  being  made  to  secure  a 
co-ordination  of  all  demands  and  supplies.  Consequently,  these  new  agencies 
have  not  adopted  the  methods  of  the  private  agencies,  as  the  previous  public 
agencies  did,  but  have  developed  new  methods  and  new  technique.  Free 
service  would  not  be  assumed  in  such  a  system,  though  it  might  be  ac- 
cepted because  of  its  presumed  value  in  promoting  the  efficiency  of  the 
public  agencies.  Efforts  are  being  made  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  trade 
unions  and  employers  or  employers'  associations  in  order  to  develop  this 
unified  system.  The  appointment  of  a  state  superintendent,  whose  duty  is 
to  study  the  entire  situation  with  reference  to  unemployment,  promises  a 
better  adaptation  of  the  agencies  to  the  needs  of  the  labor  market,  while 
the  removal  of  these  agencies  from  the  control  of  the  politicians  by  civil 
service  makes  possible  a  greater  continuity  of  plans  and  policies.  The  bul- 
letins in  regard  to  the  labor  market  in  Wisconsin,  as,  also,  in  Massachu- 
setts, are  evidence  of  the  possibilities  of  securing  wider  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  labor  market,  though  these  bulletins  are  not  sufficiently  ex- 
plicit and  frequent  to  be,  up  to  date,  of  great  value  in  the  actual  direction 
of  the  workers.  The  Chicago  Commission  on  Unemployment  has  made 
recommendations  that  aim  at  the  breaking  up  of  the  three  competing  and 
distinct  state  agencies  in  Chicago  and  the  substitution  of  co-ordinated  efforts. 
The  State  Immigration,  Land  and  Labor  Officials  have  made  demands  for 
a  nationalization  of  the  work  of  employment  agencies  and  a  co-operation 
between  the  states.  The  formation  recently  of  the  American  Association 
of  Public  Employment  Agencies  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  is  an 
indication  of  increased  co-operation  between  the  agencies.  A  number  of  the 
states  have  been  extending  the  agencies  to  the  smaller  cities,  thus  making 
possible  a  net  of  agencies  covering  the  state;  Indiana  started  its  system 
with  one  agency  in  1909,  and  then  added  four  more  in  1911;  Michigan  started 
with  two  agencies  in  1905,  added  two  more  in  1907,  one  in  1908,  and  author- 
ized five  more  in  1911,  though  no  appropriation  was  made  for  them,  and  they 
have  not  yet  been  established. 

These  five  agencies  were  to  be  located  in  Battle  Creek,  Bay  City, 

Flint,   Muskegon   and   Traverse   City.     Michigan,  29th   Annual    Report 

of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1912,  p.  18. 

All  of  these  movements  have  been  or  seem  very  likely  to  be  productive  of 
increases  in  the  number  of  positions  secured,  in  the  patronage  by  employ- 
ers and  employes,  and  in  general  efficiency.  They  are  all  approaches  to  the 
ideal  held  by  the  students  of  unemployment.  But  these  changes  are  com- 
paratively recent  and  it  is  not  yet  possible  to  appraise  accurately  the  results 
of  such  changes.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  analyze  more  concretely  the 
situation  with  which  the  agencies  are  attempting  to  deal  in  order  to  deter- 
mine the  possibilities  of  successful  functioning. 

A  very  fundamental  factor  in  determining  the  possible  success  of  em- 
ployment agencies  in  reducing  the  number  of  unemployed  is  the  distribu- 
tion of  unemployment.  The  general  assumption  on  which  employment 
agencies  are  based  is  that  much  unemployment  is  due  to  the  maladjustment 
of  labor,  to  the  fact  that  there  are  demands  for  labor  which,  if  known,  would 
absorb  many  of  the  unemployed.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of  such 
maladjustment,  but  there  is  no  statistical  verification  of  the  extent  to  which 
this  is  the  cause  of  unemployment.  TKe  usual  proof  is  a  comparison  of  the 
statistics  of  unemployment  kept  by  trade  unions  with  the  newspaper  or 
other  popular  assertions  in  regard  to  demands  for  labor.  Thus  it  is  found 
that  some  members  of  the  unions  are  unemployed  at  all  times  during  the 


REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 159 

year,  and  at  some  periods  in  the  year  employers  through  the  newspapers 
spread  the  information  that  they  are  suffering  from  lack  of  labor. 

The  trade  union  statistics  represent  the  number  of  members  of  the 
unions  who  are  out  of  work  on  the  last  day  of  the  month.  This  is  not  an 
assured  representation  of  unemployment  as  a  whole;  moreover  it  does  not 
represent  pure  unemployment  alone,  i.  e.,  such  as  is  caused  by  inability  to 
find  work  when  willing  and  able  to  work;  it  is  complicated  by  such  things 
as  the  desire  to  remain  out  of  work  for  a  short  time  between  jobs,  trade 
union  standards  which  prevent  members  from  working  for  certain  employ- 
ers, standards  of  workmanship  which  prevent  skilled  workers  from  accepting 
unskilled  employment,  etc.  But  there  are  no  statistics  with  the  least  sem- 
blance of  accuracy  in  regard  to  the  demands  for  labor.  It  is  necessary  to 
rely  on  vague  reports  of  lack  of  labor,  on  newspaper  accounts  which  are 
often  exaggerated. 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  newspapers  related 
that  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  of  Detroit  in  a  time  of  dis- 
tress set  afoot  public  works  which  called  for  5,000  men,  and  that 
only  10  applicants  applied  and  they  all  wanted  to  be  bosses.  Corre- 
spondence with  this  commissioner  revealed  the  fact  that  only  500 
jobs  were  offered  and  3,000  men  applied  for  them.  E.  A.  Ross,  At- 
lantic Monthly,  105:307-08,  March,  '10. 

and  on  statements  of  employers  which  are  made  for  the  implicit  purpose 
of  inducing  immigration  and,  by  other  means,  securing  a  sufficiently  large 
number  of  competitors  for  employment  to  keep  down  wages.  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  of  course,  of  the  extreme  need  of  employers  for  labor. 

According  to  the  newspapers  the  steel  corporations  and  coal 
companies  were  hunting  the  prisons  for  workmen  and  paying  their 
fines  in  order  to  secure  them  for  employment.  New  York  Times, 
June  27,  '12. 

but  there  are  no  statistics  which  will  make  it  possible  to  determine  the 
length  of  time  for  which  such  labor  is  demanded,  or  the  extent  of  the  un- 
satisfied demand  for  labor.  Since  there  is  no  definite  knowledge  in  regard 
to  the  extent  of  unemployment  due  to  this  maladjustment,  there  can  be  no 
certainty  as  to  the  extent  to  which  unemployment  can  be  prevented  by  ef- 
ficient public  employment  agencies.  Any  decision  in  regard  to  this  is  largely 
assumption,  made  on  the  basis  of  scattered  and  inadequate  statistics  which 
treat  labor  as  homogeneous  and  impersonal.  In  addition  the  theoretical 
question  of  the  regularity  of  the  demand  for  labor  in  general  is  compli- 
cated by  assumptions  in  regard  to  the  wages  paid  for  such  labor. 

No  one  knows  whether  the  demands  for  labor,  even  if  regular  on  the 
whole,  are  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  possible  to  secure  a  complete  dove- 
tailing of  occupations.  Before  definite  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  possi- 
bilities of  transference  of  labor  from  one  occupation  to  another  can  be 
had,  it  will  be  necessary  to  study  not  only  the  variations  in  the  demands 
for  labor  in  different  occupations — and  even  that  has  not  been  done  in  an 
intensive  way — but  also  the  degree  to  which  the  skill  required  in  different 
occupations  is  similar  and  can  be  transferred. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Webb  first  worked  out  his  plan  for  organi- 
zation of  the  labor  market  (Webb,  Public  Organization  of  the  Labour 
Market,  1909),  and  then  later  made  intensive  studies  of  seasonal  trades. 
(Webb,  Seasonal  Trades,  1912.) 

The  statistics  of  unemployment  show  that  for  the  United  States  as  a 
whole,  and  for  each  principal  industrial  state,  the  number  of  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  industries  fluctuates  regularly,  with  one  crest  in  May  and  an- 
other in  September  or  October.  Whether  this  industrial  variation  would  be 
off-set  if  non-industrial  occupations  were  included  in  the  statistics  is  un- 
certain. Likewise  there  are  definite  surpluses  for  the  United  States  as  a 
whole,  and  for  each  industrial  state,  in  the  number  employed  in  busy 
years  over  the  number  employed  in  years  of  depression.  Both  the  seasonal 
and  the  cyclical  surplus  of  labor  is  reduced,  to  a  certain  extent,  by  variations 


160 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

in  immigration  and  by  emigration,  for,  as  Hourwich  has  stated,  "Unem- 
ployment and  immigration  are  the  effects  of  economic  forces  working  in 
opposite  directions;  that  which  produces  business  expansion  reduces  unem- 
ployment and  attracts  immigration;  that  which  produces  business  depression 
decreases  unemployment  and  reduces  immigration." 

Immigration  and  Labor,  p.  145.  Fairchild,  however,  states  that 
emigration  has  a  very  trifling  palliative  effect  on  unemployment  in  times  of 
crises.  Immigration,  p.  352. 

Thus  there  is,  on  the  whole,  some  doubt  in  regard  to  the  extent  to  which 
public  employment  agencies,  with  an  ideal  organization  and  administration, 
could  make  a  material  reduction  in  the  amount  of  unemployment,  for  it  is 
agreed  that  public  agencies  could  furnish  employment  only  when  there  are 
positions  offered  by  the  employers. 

But  the  public  employment  agencies  are  not  undertaking  to  prevent  all 
unemployment;  they  are  merely  a  part  of  the  more  general  program  for  the 
prevention  and  alleviation  of  unemployment.  The  particular  function  of 
the  employment  agency  is  to  organize  the  labor  market,  and  by  that  means 
to  reduce  unemployment  as  much  as  possible.  Consequently,  uncertainty  in 
regard  to  the  extent  to  which  unemployment  can  be  prevented  by  public 
agencies  is  not  fatal  to  the  efficiency  of  these  institutions  in  the  performance 
of  their  assigned  function. 

One  of  the  ideals  of  the  public  employment  agency  is  to  promote  a  con- 
trolled mobility  of  labor,  and  thus  to  prevent  the  aimless  wandering  in 
search  of  employment,  or  the  hawking  of  labor.  In  regard  to  this  ideal  it 
may  be  asked,  Is  it  possible  for  public  employment  agencies  to  prevent  the 
custom  of  wandering  in  search  of  employment?  And,  To  what  extent  is  an 
increase  in  mobility  of  labor  probable? 

There  is  no  doubt  that  it'  is  possible  for  the  public  agencies  by  means 
of  more  complete  information  in  regard  to  demand  for  labor  to  reduce 
the  habit  of  hawking  labor,  but  the  pressure  of  unemployment  would  ap- 
parently maintain  the  custom  to  some  extent  as  long  as  it  proved  profitable, 
and  it  would  be  rendered  unprofitable  only  by  monopolization  of  the  work 
of  placement,  and  by  some  assured  means  of  support  during  unemployment, 
such  as  insurance.  It  may  be  concluded,  then,  that  any  efficient  employment 
agency  will  reduce  the  hawking  of  labor,  that  employment  agencies  which  can 
secure  a  monopoly  of  placement  will  eliminate  most  wandering  for  em- 
ployment, except  when  there  is  pressure  of  extreme  unemployment,  and 
that  wandering  in  search  of  employment  can  be  completely  eliminated  only 
by  a  supplementation  of  the  public  agencies  by  some  other  parts  of  the 
program  for  dealing  with  unemployment,  such  as  insurance  against  unem- 
ployment. The  success  of  the  agencies  in  preventing  this  hawking  of  labor 
depends,  therefore,  largely  on  the  ability  of  the  agencies  to  secure,  either 
by  greater  efficiency  or  by  law,  such  a  unified  control  of  placements  as  to 
grant  them  a  virtual  monopoly.  The  possibility  of  securing  such  a  monopoly 
depends,  in  turn,  on  the  attitudes  of  the  possible  patrons  of  the  agencies. 

The  purpose  of  increasing  the  mobility  of  labor  is  based  on  the  belief 
that  unemployment  in  one  community  does  not  mean  unemployment  in  other 
communities,  that  the  facilities  for  finding  employment  are  at  present  better 
in  the  city  than  in  the  small  towns  and  open  country,  and  especially  that 
the  facilities  for  securing  work  in  one  community  are  much  better  than  the 
facilities  which  exist  in  any  community  for  finding  work  in  other  communi- 
ties. 

Devine,   op.   cit.,   pp.  7-9. 

Of  176  employers  in  New  York  City  71.0  per  cent  reported  that  they 
could  always  secure  all  the  help  they  .desired,  while  of  547  employers  in 
the  rest  of  New  York  a  smaller  proportion,  60.8  per  cent,  reported  that 
they  could  always  secure  all  the  help  they  wanted. 

New   York,   Report   of   Commission   on   Unemployment,    1911,    pp. 
159-60;   Devine,  op.  cit,  p.   185. 

Lodging   house   statistics   show  that   during   depression   there   is   an   increase 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 161 

in  the  relative  number  of  applications  by  persons  who  have  been  in  the 
city  a  short  time. 

Devine,  op.  cit,  p.   194. 

And  some  factories  which  have  been  moved  from  the  cities  to  the  suburbs 
or  to  smaller  towns  have  been  compelled  to  return  to  the  cities  because 
of  the  inability  to  secure  labor  in  the  suburbs  or  small  towns. 

E.  E.  Pratt,  Industrial  Causes  of  Congestion  of  Population  in 
New  York  City,  Columbia  Studies,  Whole  No.  109,  1911,  pp.  74,  100-02. 
Thus  it  appears  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the  employers  in  the  smaller  towns 
have  the  greater  difficulty  of  securing  help  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  em- 
ployes in  the  smaller  towns  go  to  the  cities  when  unemployed.  This  is  ap- 
parently because  the  facilities  for  finding  employment  in  the  smaller  towns 
are  fewer,  because  more  people,  in  absolute  number,  are  finding  employment 
in  the  cities,  and  hence,  there  is  a  better  gambling  chance  in  the  cities  to 
secure  work,  and  because  the  opportunities  for  employment  in  the  smaller 
towns  and  open  country  are  scattered. 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  proposed  that  the  public  employment  agen- 
cies, by  securing  information  in  regard  to  a  wider  area,  will  be  able  to  in- 
crease the  mobility  of  the  workers,  and  thus  to  reduce  the  unemployment. 
Some  of  the  skilled  workers  and  the  unskilled  workers  to  a  much  greater 
extent  have  developed  habits  of  mobility. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  121-22; 
William  Hard,  Unemployment  as  a  Coming  Issue,  American  Labor  Legis- 
lation Review,  2:96-97,  '12. 

One  hindrance  to  greater  mobility  has  been  the  lack  of  definite,  accurate  and 
trustworthy  information  in  regard  to  employment  in  other  localities,  and  some  of 
the  foreign  public  agencies,  by  furnishing  such  information,  have  succeeded  in 
promoting  mobility. 

Rowntree  and  Lasker,  Bulletin  de  1'association  pour  la  lutte  contre  le 
chomage,  1 :407,  Oct.-Dec.,  '11. 

Nevertheless  it  has  been  a  general  experience  that  many  of  the  workers  ex- 
hibit an  extreme  disinclination  to  employment  in  the  smaller  towns  or  open  coun- 
try, and  prefer  to  remain  unemployed  in  the  city  and  take  chances  on  securing 
employment  later. 

Massachusetts,  Report  of  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the  Un- 
employed, 1895,  Part  V,  pp.  87-99;  National  Employment  Exchange,  1st  An- 
nual Report,  1910,  p.  23 ;  New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemploy- 
ment, 1911,  pp.  102-03.  There  is  a  large  number  of  articles  in  regard  to 
the  migration  of  workers  to  the  country  in  Europe.  See,  on  this,  particu- 
larly, B.  K.,  Les  migrations  ouvrieres  et  la  placement  agricole,  Bulletin  de 
1'association  pour  la  lutte  contre  le  chomage,  2:381-410,  July-Sept.,  '12;  L. 
Paperin,  Le  placement  agricole,  ibid.,  pp.  429-32.  Each  of  these  articles 
contains  a  bibliography  on  the  subject. 

This  attitude  is  due  not  only  to  the  dislike  of  the  open  country,  but  also  to  the 
desire  to  maintain  a  family  life,  to  the  fear  that  employment  in  other  communi- 
ties will  be  temporary,  as  well  as  to  a  more  fundamental  disinclination  to  mobility 
and  to  the  breaking  away  from  personal  group  relationships.  The  extent  to 
which  mobility  can  be  increased  in  view  of  this  attitude  is  questionable.  While 
the  unskilled  and  unattached  workers  may  submit  to  transference  from  one  com- 
munity to  another,  there  is  doubt  both  in  regard  to  the  extent  to  which  that 
would  relieve  general  unemployment  and  the  extent  to  which  the  skilled  or  at- 
tached workers  would  be  willing  to  develop  similar  mobility. 

The  attitude  of  the  trade  unions  is  another  .factor  in  the  possibilities  of  or- 
ganization of  the  labor  market  by  the  public  employment  agencies.  There  is,  at 
present,  no  consistent  trade  union  policy  in  regard  to  public  employment  agencies, 
but  there  are  indications  of  such  a  policy  contained  in  the  statements  which  have 
been  made  and  in  the  probable  effects  which  public  employment  agencies  will 
have  on  other  trade  union  policies.  It  has  been  unnecessary  for  the  unions  to 
take  a  very  vital  interest  in  these  agencies  because  of  the  fact  that  the  applicants 
for  employment  in  such  agencies  have  not  generally  been  in  the  skilled  trades  in 


162 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

which  unions  are  organized.  The  previous  expressions  of  attitudes  have  been 
various  and  have  been  in  general  uncorrelated  with  a  general  trade  union  policy. 
But  there  are  factors  in  the  present  situation  and  in  the  newer  ideals  of  public 
employment  agencies  which  make  it  probable  that  the  unions  will  manifest  hos- 
tility toward  an  extension  of  the  agencies. 

In  the  first  place,  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  has  undertaken  a  more 
vigorous  campaign  for  the  organization  of  the  unskilled  and  migratory  labor. 
They  expect  that  one  inducement  which  will  affect  these  workers  who  are  at 
present  unorganized  is  the  possibility  of  assistance  in  securing  employment  by  the 
inauguration  of  union  employment  agencies.  The  preemption  of  this  function  by 
the  state  would,  therefore,  take  away  one  incentive  for  these  unskilled  workers 
to  form  organizations  and  therefore  would  weaken  the  efforts  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  to  extend  its  organization.  Consequently  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  would  be  likely  to  insist  on  the  preservation  of  this  function  of 
placement  for  the  workers  themselves  in  order  to  retain  the  incentive  to  become 
organized,  and  to  shift  their  attention  from  public  agencies,  in  so  far  as  it  has  been 
so  directed  in  some  localities,  to  "collective  self-help.''  There  are  many  indica- 
tions of  this  recent  attempt  of  the  unions  to  solve  the  problem. 

California,  10th  Annual  Convention  of  California  State  Federation  of 
Labor,  1909,  pp.  45-46;  statement  by  Victor  Olander,  President  of  the  Lake 
Seamen's  Union,  in  report  of  Sub-Committee  on  Immigration  to  the  Chicago 
Commission  on  Unemployment;  John  Mitchell,  Shingle  Weaver,  Oct.  4,  '13, 
p.  1 ;  Gompers,  Address  to  the  Convention  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  in  A.  F.  of  L.  News  Letter,  Nov.  15,  '13,  p.  9. 

In  the  second  place,  it  may  be  expected  that  the  trade  unions  will  oppose  the 
public  employment  agencies  as  central  agencies  because,  as  such,  they  would  de- 
prive the  unions  of  a  weapon  in  the  struggle  against  the  employers.  Placement 
is  a  function  which  the  American  unions  have  performed  since  their  origin,  which 
has  assisted  them  in  the  control  of  the  labor  supply  of  their  trades,  and  has  been 
valuable  in  the  maintenance  of  such  conditions  as  the  closed  shop.  It  is  largely 
through  their  employment  agencies  that  the  unions  are  able  to -secure  a  control  of 
the  personnel  and  to  insist  on  the  closed  shop ;  and  both  of  these  policies  are 
fundamental  to  trade  unionism  as  at  present  organized.  The  agencies  assist  the 
members  of  the  union  to  secure  positions  in  union  shops,  and  they  assist  the  em- 
ployers to  secure  union  employes.  In  public  agencies  the  union  members  would 
be  on  a  par  with  non-union  applicants  for  employment,  except  in  so  far  as  the 
employers  could  be  induced  to  demand  union  workers  from  the  public  agencies. 
If  the  employer  refused  to  make  such  demands,  the  state  would  lend  its  assistance 
to  him  to  secure  employes  without  reference  to  membership  in  unions.  Thus  the 
union  would  be  deprived  of  this  means  of  control.  Though  the  union  employment 
agencies  have  not  been  highly  efficient,  the  unions  are  not  apt  to  surrender  them 
until  compelled  to  do  so,  and  are  apt  to  manifest  hostility  to  an  attempt  to  de- 
prive them  of  this  weapon.  There  have  been  few  expressions  by  unions  in  regard 
to  this,  for  it  has  hardly  been  contemplated  in  the  United  States  as  a  possibility. 
Conner  found,  however,  that  the  trade  unionists  generally  were  indifferent  or  hos- 
tile to  an  extension  of  public  agencies  to  the  skilled  trades, 

Loc.  cit.,  p.  90. 

and  some  of  the  Chicago  unions,  which  were  favorable  to  public  agencies  as  gen- 
eral institutions,  stated  in  1912  that  they  would  oppose  them  in  their  own  trades. 
It  seems  utterly  impossible  that  the  trade  unions  would  manifest  any  other  atti- 
tude than  one  of  hostility  toward  an  extension  of  the  public  agencies  which  were 
so  organized  as  to  deprive  them  entirely  of  this  function  and  as  to  promote  inter- 
occupational  mobility  without  reference  to  union  membership. 

To  this  argument  it  would  probably  be  replied  that  two  of  the  state  agencies 
in  Wisconsin  and  the  municipal  .agencies  in  Tacoma,  Spokane  and  Portland  are 
managed  by  boards  representing  the  trade  unions,  the  employers  and  the  city  or 
state.  But  these  agencies  exist  in  practice  principally  for  the  unskilled ;  the 
trade  unions  retain  their  own  agencies  for  their  trades ;  the  unions  cooperate  in 
the  management  of  such  institutions  almost  entirely  for  the  assistance  of  work- 
ers who  are  still  unorganized.  The  question  of  elimination  of  the  union  employ- 
ment agencies  and  of  a  policy  of  inter-occupational  mobility  in  opposition  to  the 
trade  union  policy-  of  trade  exclusiveness  has  hardly  been  considered  in  these 
agencies,  and  in  these  localities  such  developments  have  not  been  significantly 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT  163 

dangerous  to  the  trade  unions.  In  Germany  the  trade  union  congress  was  ex- 
tremely hostile  to  the  jointly  managed  agencies  in  1896  and  warned  the  mem- 
bers against  any  other  form  of  control  than  that  of  the  unions. 

Protokoll  der  Verhandlungen  des  zweiten  Kongresses  der  Gewerk- 
schaften   Deutschlands,   Berlin,    1896,   p.    124;   There   had   been   even   before 
this    some   jointly   managed   agencies.     See    R.    Michels,    Das    Problem    der 
Arbeitslosigkeit  und  ihre  Bekampfung  durch  die  deutschen  freien  Gewerk- 
schaften,  Archiv   fur   Sozialwissenschaft  und   Sozialpolitik,  31 :467,   1910. 
but  in   1899  admitted  the  validity   of  that   form   of   control  under   some   circum- 
stances, 

Protokoll   der   Verhandlungen   des   dritten   Kongresses  der   Gewerk- 
schaften  Deutschlands,  1899,  p.  203 ;  Michels,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  465-67. 
and  since  1903  have  sometimes  demanded  such  control  in  their  trade  agreements 
and  have  even  instituted  strikes  to  secure  it. 

Beveridge,  Economic  Journal,  18:15,  March,  '03. 

In  many  cities  of  Germany  the  trade  unions  have  incorporated  their  own 
agencies  in  the  public  agencies  and  especially  in  Stuttgart  all  the  strong  unions, 
except  the  printers,  have  surrendered  their  own  agencies. 

Beveridge,  loc.  cit.  p.  7. 

Moreover  in  Germany  the  most  prevalent  and  successful  form  of  public 
agency  is  that  under  the  joint  control  of  unions  and  employers.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  not  only  to  know  the  fact  of  the  change  of  attitude,  in  regard  to  which 
there  is  no  doubt,  but  also  to  secure  an  explanation  of  that  change.  The  em- 
ployers' associations  in  Germany  have  been  able  to  establish  extremely  successful 
employment  agencies,  which  have  been  virtual  blacklists,  and  to  which  the  work- 
ers have  manifested  very  great  opposition ;  the  unions  have  been  unable  to  secure 
such  complete  control  of  the  labor  supply  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  the  em- 
ployers to  patronize  their  union  agencies.  Consequently  it  was  to  the  advantage 
of  the  unions  to  compromise  on  a  joint  control  of  the  public  agency,  if  the  em- 
ployers would  consent  or  could  be  compelled  to  do  so,  rather  than  to  maintain 
what  appeared  to  be  a  losing  fight  with  the  agencies  of  the  employers. 

Kessler,  Die  Arbeitsnachweise  der  Arbeitgebervefbande,  1911,  passim; 
B.  K.,  La  lutte  pour  le  placement  paritaire,  Bulletin  de  1'association  pour  la 
lutte  centre  le  chomage,  1:239-61,  Oct.-Dec.,  '11,  reproducing  parts  of 
Sachsische  Gewerksschaftskartelle,  'Protokoll  viber  die  Verhandlungen  der 
ersten  Konferenz,  1909,  pp.  58-59;  and  Protokoll  der  Verhandlungen  des 
achten  Kongresses  der  Gewerkschaften  Deutschlands,  1911,  pp.  305-06. 

Jastrow  has  objected  to  this  explanation  of  the  change  in  attitude  of 
the  trade  unions  and  maintains  that  the  change  was  due  to  a  favorable  ex- 
perience with  the   public   agencies   in   actual   operation,   rather  than   to   the 
struggle  with  employers.     Arbeitsmarkt  und  Arbeitsnachweis,  p.   168. 
If  this  explanation  is  correct,  this  cooperation  of  the  trade  union  in  the  joint 
management  of  the  public  agency  means  that  the  unions  have  compromised  be- 
cause they  could  not  compete  successfully  with  the  employers  in  the  attempt   to 
control  the  labor  market  through  their  agencies,  and  that  they  have  been  willing 
to  surrender  their  independent  and  exclusive  control  of  the  agencies  in  considera- 
tion of  the  elimination  of  the  employers'  agencies. 

In  England,  where  the  union  agencies  are  much  stronger  than  in  Germany 
and  the  agencies  of  the  employers'  associations  have  had  a  slighter  development, 
the  unions,  though  somewhat  favorable  to  the  public  agencies  before  they  were 
established,  have  manifested  general  hostility  since  operations  have  begun.  State- 
ments have  been  made  by  trade  unionists  in  their  Congress  that  they  would  abolish 
the  entire  system  if  possible,  that  the  agencies  are  the  worst  evil  that  has  befal- 
len the  workers  and  that  the  agencies  have  been  of  value  to  the  employers  in 
securing  strike-breakers  but  are  not  needed  by  the  workers. 

Beveridge,  Compte  rendu  de  la  conference  international  du  chomage, 
1910,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  26,  p.  15;  42nd  Annual  Report  of  Trades  Union  Con- 
gress, 1909,  pp.  15-52;  43rd  report,  ibid.,  pp.  160-65;  44th  Report,  ibid.,  pp. 
190-95. 

While  this  attitude  of  opposition  is  not  universal  and  seems,  in  fact,  to  be 
the  radical  attitude,  there  has  been  a  change  from  less  to  greater  hostility  in 
England. 


164 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

This  European  experience,  therefore,  is  not  conclusive  in  regard  to  the 
probable  attitude  of  American  trade  unionists,  but  at  least  leaves  the  possibility  of 
increasing  hostility  and  of  conflict  unless  the  employers'  associations  develop 
agencies  so  powerful  that  the  unions  are  willing  to  compromise.  Moreover,  the 
general  conclusion  from  other  attempts  made  by  unions  and  employers'  associa- 
tions to  secure  a  common  basis  of  agreement  is  that  there  has  appeared  to  be  no 
common  standards  on  which  both  could  agree,  but  that  such  attempts  have  been 
merely  compromises  to  prevent  continued  conflict  and  made  on  the  basis  of  the 
relative  strength  of  the  opponents.  Consequently  the  conclusion  is  that  the 
unions  would  oppose  the  establishment  of  such  employment  agencies  as  those  pro- 
posed and  would  not  at  the  present  time  be  able  to  agree  on  a  basis  of  justice 
that  could  be  used  in  the  administration  of  such  agencies,  if  joint  control  were 
secured,  in  the  trades  in  which  unions  have  been  formed. 

The  attitude  of  the  employers'  associations,  also,  must  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration in  determining  the  possibilities  of  development  of  the  public  employment 
agencies.  These  associations  in  the  United  States  have  displayed  no  consistent 
attitude,  as  a  whole,  up  to  this  time,  and  the  instances  of  extreme  opposition  to 
public  agencies  are  explicable  in  terms  of  the  particular  conditions  rather  than 
of  the  principle.  Moreover,  very  little  is  known  in  regard  to  the  general  prin- 
ciples and  philosophy  of  the  employers'  associations  of  the  United  States.  But 
these  associations  have  been  growing  very  rapidly  in  the  last  few  years,  and 
have  exhibited  consistent  attempts  to  overcome  any  form  of  union  control  of  in- 
dustry and  to  retain  exclusive  control  of  industry.  While  the  employers'  asso- 
ciations of  Germany  have  been  willing  in  some  cases  to  surrender  their  own 
agencies  and  cooperate  in  the  administration  of  general  public  agencies,  there  has 
been  great  development  since  1906  in  the  agencies  maintained  and  managed  exclu- 
sively by  employers'  associations.  Moreover,  these  German  associations  have 
shown  an  increasing  attitude  of  hostility  toward  the  jointly  managed  agencies  and 
of  consistent  demands  for  their  own  agencies.  In  1908  Dr.  Flechtner,  the  Di- 
rector, stated  in  a  Conference  of  Employers'  Exchanges,  "The  two  principal 
reasons  for  the  formation  of  exchanges  are  the  following:  they  facilitate  the 
control  of  the  strikers  and  those  locked-out,  and  they  increase  the  powers  of 
the  employers'  associations  in  question." 

Quoted   in   Bulletin   de   1'association   pour   la   lutte   centre   le   chomage, 
1:244,  Oct.-Dec.,  '11. 

The  following  paragraph  in  regard  te  employers'  agen'cies  was  contained  in  a 
secret  circular  sent  to  employers'  associations  in  1909,  "The  placement  of  work- 
ers always  has  immense  importance  for  the  employers.  It  is  only  a  platitude  to 
say  that  the  one  who  controls  a  well  organized  agency  can  control  the  conditions 
of  employment.  .  .  .  The  application  of  this  principle  in  practice  will  be  a 
means  of  combat  of  first-rate  importance." 
Ibid.  p.  245. 

On  October  29,  1909,  the  Union  of  German  Employers'  Associations  an- 
nounced the  following  program  with  reference  to  employers'  agencies,  "The 
agencies  must  be  in  the  hands  of  the  employers,  in  the  interest  of  the  industrial 
activity  of  the  fatherland.  The  system  of  jointly-managed  and  public  agencies 
should  be  condemned," 

Kessler,  Die  Arbeitsnachweise  der  Arbeitgeberverbande,  p.  10. 
and  on  April   19,   1910,  this   program   was   made   more   explicit,   thus,   "Agencies 
which  are  jointly  managed  by  employers  and  employes  should  not  be  established 
in  the  future  and  efforts  should  be  made  to  abolish  the  existing  agencies  of  that 
kind." 

Ibid.  p.  10. 

These  expressions  show  that  the  employment  agency  is  a  weapon  for  the 
employers  as  well  as  for  the  employes,  and  it  is  one  which  the  employers'  asso- 
ciation seems  able  to  wield  with  great  effect.  This  offers  a  distinct  possibility 
for  the  development  of  employers'  associations  and  consequently  for  opposition 
to  public  employment  agencies  in  trades,  in  which  the  associations  are  interested 
or  in  which  unions  are  organized. 

These  factors  are  not  necessarily  and  inherently  insuperable,  but  they  are 
evidence  that  the  public  employment  agencies,  first,  have  no  clear  conception  of 
the  extent  to  which  they  can  prevent  unemployment  by  theii  plan  of  organizing 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 165 

the  labor  market,  even  if  there  is  no  opposition ;  secondly,  that  the  workers  will 
manifest  a  tendency  to  immobility  which  will  reduce  the  value  of  the  agencies 
in  the  solution  of  the  problem ;  thirdly,  that  both  employers'  associations  and 
trade  unions  in  the  United  States  have  advantages  to  gain  by  the  maintenance 
of  their  own  agencies,  and  both  have  certain  general  principles,  more  or  less 
developed  at  present  but,  at  least  for  the  employers,  probably  capable  of  much 
greater  development,  which  'will  make  the  successful  operation  of  the  public 
agencies  along  the  lines  indicated  extremely  difficult ;  and  fourthly,  that  the  trade 
unions  have  some  policies  which  seem  to  be  directly  in  opposition  to  the  prin- 
ciples involved  in  the  policies  of  the  public  employment  agencies,  as  planned ;  the 
promotion  of  inter-occupational  mobility  is  an  example  of  this  opposition.  When 
suggestions  of  monopoly  of  placement  are  considered  in  connection  with  these 
attitudes  of  employers  and  unions  it  becomes  apparent  that  there  is  no  immediate 
prospect  of  a  complete  control  of  the  distribution  of  labor;  and  when  it  is  sug- 
gested that  the  public  agencies  would  make  wandering  in  search  of  work  un- 
necessary, these  factors  are  not  taken  into  consideration.  The  plan  to  break  up 
the  distinct  centers  in  the  labor  market  and  to  substitute  one  central  agency  ap- 
pear, likewise,  Utopian.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  public  agencies  can  not  im- 
prove the  situation,  for  it  is  evident  that  there  is  distinct  possibility  of  improve- 
ment even  within  the  lines  laid  down  by  the  existing  employment  agencies.  It 
does  mean  that  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  successful  operation  of 
these  agencies  in  accordance  with  the  assigned  function,  which  may  prevent  any 
large  solution  of  the  problem  of  unemployment  by  this  means  until  other  factors 
in  the  situation  are  changed. 

CHAPTER   VI. 


THE  ASSUMED  FUNCTION  OF  PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES 
IN  RELATION  TO  GENERAL  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS. 

From  the  logical  standpoint,  the  student  should  contribute  to  the  solution 
of  any  social  problem,  after  he  has  come  to  a  realization  of  the  problem,  by  the 
selection  and  collection  of  facts  on  the  basis  of  a  more  or  less  definite  hypothesis 
or  interest,  reformulation  of  that  hypothesis  to  take  account  of  the  facts  col- 
lected, selection  and  collection  of  other  facts  on  the  basis  of  the  reformulated 
hypothesis,  and  a  continuation  of  this  process  of  selection  of  facts  and  reformula- 
tion of  hypotheses  until  all  the  pertinent  facts  are  gathered  up  in -one  hypothesis 
and  can  be  submitted  to  the  group  for  action. 

The  students  of  unemployment  have  started  in  that  way;  they  have  realized 
the  problem  of  unemployment,  from  the  standpoint  of  its  extent  and  effects :  they 
have  generally  taken  the  public  employment  agency  as  the  solution  which  should, 
hypothetically,  be  the  beginning  of  this  program  for  dealing  with  unemployment ; 
and  they  have  collected  facts.  But  the  data  which  they  have  considered  have  been 
restricted,  characteristically,  to  the  data  of  unemployment.  The  facts  of  unem- 
ployment have  been  isolated  or  abstracted  from  the  rest  of  the  social  order,  and 
it  has  been  urged  that  the  public  agencies,  substantiated  on  the  basis  of  these 
abstracted  facts  of  unemployment,  should  be  established  in  the  midst  of  a  social 
order  which  has  not  been  taken  explicitly  into  consideration  in  the  formulation 
of  the  solution. 

The  following  types  of  facts  are  ordinarily  considered :  extent,  causes 
and  effects  of  unemployment,  inadequacies  of  remedies  of  the  past,  outline 
of  a  plan  for  operation  of  public  agencies  which  will  reduce  unemploy- 
ment to  the  greatest  possible  extent.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  refer- 
ence to  the  Report  of  the  New  York  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911, 
or  to  Beveridge,  Unemployment. 

The  fact  that  public  employment  agencies  would  prevent  or  reduce  unem- 
ployment does  not  in  itself  prove  that  they  should  be  established ;  relief  work 
might  accomplish  the  same  results,  so  far  as  unemployment  alone  is  considered. 
An  adequate  solution  of  the  problem  requires  not  only  that  unemployment  be  re- 
duced or  eliminated,  but  also  that  this  solution  shall  not  react  on  the  general 


166 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

social  order  in  such  a  way  as  to  intensify  and  complicate  other  social  problems, 
and  produce  conditions  even  more  undesirable  than  unemployment.  But  the  advo- 
cates of  the  public  employment  agency  have  virtually  said :  Assuming  that  the 
present  industrial  system  remains  as  at  present  and  assuming  that  public  employ- 
ment agencies  will  have  no  other  effects  than  to  secure  work  for  people  who 
are  unemployed,  how  should  they  be  organized  so  as  to  accomplish  that  result 
to  the  greatest  possible  extent?  The  possible  effects  of  such  institutions  on  wages, 
conditions  of  work,  the  trade  union  movement,  the  efforts  to  regularize  industrial 
operations  and,  in  general,  on  other  social  problems,  have  been  generally  neg- 
lected by  the  advocates  of  such  agencies  both  in  the  United  States  and  Europe. 
It  does  not  follow  that  attention  would  have  been  paid  to  these  possible  effects 
on  other  social  problems  than  unemployment  if  such  effects  had  occurred  in  the 
operation  of  European  agencies.  This  lack  of  explicit  comment  is  not  neces- 
sarily an  indication  that  the  public  agencies,  which  are  admittedly  far  short 
of  the  ideal,  have  not  had  bad  effects,  for  the  social  situation  is  so  complex  that 
it  is  difficult  to  trace  bad  conditions  to  a  particular  institution  and,  even  in  Ger- 
many, the  complete  effects  of  public  agencies  are  not  yet  necessarily  apparent  be- 
cause of  their  relatively  short  period  of  operation. 

Public  agencies  have,  to  be  sure,  been  considered  by  their  advocates  as  parts 
of,  and  in  connection  with,  the  more  general  program  for  dealing  with  unem- 
ployment. But  this  means  that  they  have  been  considered  as  institutions  neces- 
sary for  the  successful  operation  of  the  rest  of  the  program.  The  connection 
of  public  employment  agencies  with  the  more  general  program  is  not  in  itself 
a  valid  test  of  the  desirability  of  such  agencies. 

It  is  very  true  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  with  certainty  what  the 
effects  of  these  institutions  will  be;  but  it  may  be  worth  while  to  indicate  some  of 
the  broader  problems  that  may  be  involved  in  public  agencies,  in  so  far  as  they 
succeed  in  securing  an  organization  of  the  labor  market  and  that  have  not  been 
adequately  investigated.  Definite  knowledge  and  intensive  investigation  of  these 
problems  may  be  sufficient  to  give  the  agencies  additional  substantiation  or  to 
necessitate  considerable  modification  in  the  general  policy  of  such  agencies. 

If  the  operations  of  an  industry  are  such  as  to  throw  some  of  the  workers 
out  of  employment,  there  are  two  general  lines  along  which  solutions  might 
proceed:  (1)  those  industrial  operations  might  be  modified  and  made  more 
regular  so  that,  thereby,  the  number  of  employes  required  by  the  establishment 
be  kept  more  constant;  and  (2)  the  industrial  fluctuations  might  be  taken  as  the 
fixed  and  given,  and  the  workers  be  shifted,  when  unemployed,  to  other  occu- 
pations or  to  other  localities.  The  students  of  unemployment  have  generally 
accepted  the  industrial  fluctuations  as  the  fixed  and  attempt  to  solve  the  problem 
by  the  shifting  of  workers  to  fit  the  fluctuating  demands  of  industry.  Their  ideal 
is,  first,  to  eliminate  all  possible  unemployment  by  shifting  the  workers,  and 
then  by  the  more  rational  letting  of  government  contracts,  to  eliminate  some  of 
the  greater  industrial  fluctuations — the  cyclical  depressions — in  regard  to  which 
employment  agencies  are  impotent.  It  is  possible  to  have  the  other  ideal :  first, 
to  eliminate  so  far  as  possible  all  industrial  fluctuations,  not  only  the  cyclical 
depression,  and  then,  second,  to  shift  workers  as  required.  The  policy  of  com- 
plete elimination  of  industrial  fluctuations  is  apparently  Utopian,  in  consideration, 
especially  of  climatic  conditions;  moreover  it  would  involve  a  considerable  mod- 
ification of  the  fashions  and  the  habits  of  consumers,  of  the  methods  of  pro- 
duction and  a  considerable  restriction  of  the  private  management  of  industry 
for  the  sake  of  profits.  How  far  such  fluctuations  could  be  decreased  is  quite 
unknown,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  valid  reason  why  the  problem  should  not  be 
attacked  from  this  side  as  well  as  from  the  side  of  the  workers. 

Public  employment  agencies  by  increasing  the  facilities  for  the  employes  to 
secure  employment  would  increase,  also,  the  facilities  for  the  employers  to  secure 
help.  Is  it  possible  that  industries  whose  operations  are  now  kept  regular  by 
the  difficulty  of  securing  help  might  be  made  more  irregular  by  an  increase  in 
those  facilities?  Fluctuations  in  the  number  of  employes  required  by  an  estab- 
lishment are  due  in  part  to  the  modern  "rush  order"  form  of  business.  In  1895 
the  Massachusetts  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the  Unemployed  found 
that  "in  the  old  days  a  manufacturer  would  often  employ  his  hands  during  the 
dull  season  in  making  up  goods  for  which  he  expected  to  receive  orders  during 
the  busy  months ;  now  the  tendency  is  more  and  more  to  do  an  'order'  business, — 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 167 

to  wait  until  an  order  is  received,  then  to  employ  all  the  hands  who  can  be 
utilized,  'rush'  the  order  through  and  then  discharge  the  hands." 

Massachusetts,  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the  Unemployed, 
1895,  Part  V,  p.  vii. 

The  iron  and  steel  industry  has  a  policy  of  "running  a  department  at  top 
speed  and  under  the  heaviest  pressure  while  there  is  an  active  demand  fpr  its 
particular  products  and  then  shutting  it  down  as  soon  as  the  market  becomes 
weak." 

United  States,  Report  on  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the  Iron  and 
Steel  Industry,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  21. 

This  is  apparent,  also,  in  many  other  modern  industries.  The  purchasers  by 
buying  in  large  quantities  and  at  long  intervals  increase  the  competition  for 
their  orders  and  thus  secure  lower  prices. 

New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment,  1911,  p.  42. 
Overhead  charges,  a  sympathetic  or  paternalistic  attitude  toward  the  employes. 
The  Pullman  authorities  claim  that  during  the  depression  of  1893  thev 
accepted  contracts  at  a  loss  in  order  to  afford  work  to  their  employes.     G. 
R.  Taylor,  Satellite  Cities:    Pullman,  Survey  29:119,  Nov.  2,  '12. 
and  the  effect  of  unemployment  on  the  efficiency  of  the  working  force 

United  States,  Report  on  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the  Iron  and 
Steel  Industry,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  379-80;  United  States,  Industrial  Commission, 
1901,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  440-41. 

tend  to  prevent  such  variations.  To  what  extent  the  difficulty  of  securing  em- 
ployes in  rush  times  is  a  preventive  of  these  fluctuations  is  unknown ;  but  in  so 
far  as  it  does  have  that  effect,  it  is  possible  that  public  employment  agencies 
would  tend  to  make  industrial  operations  more  irregular  and  thus  to  cause  a 
larger  number  of  workers  to  be  thrown  out  of  employment.  On  the  other  hand 
it  is  possible  that  the  increased  facilities  of  securing  employment  would  enable 
the  best  workers  to  select  the  positions  of  greatest  permanency,  and  that  this 
would  tend  to  make  it  profitable  for  industrial  establishments  to  maintain  greater 
regularity  of  employment.  There  is  still  a  further  question  as  to  whether  in- 
creased irregularity  of  industrial  operations,  even  if  the  inevitable  consequence 
of  public  employment  agencies,  would  be  undesirable. 

For  various  reasons,  of  which  the  difficulty  of  securing  labor  is  one,  efforts 
have  been  made  and  are  now  being  made  to  break  up  some  of  the  artificial  varia- 
tions in  the  demand  for  labor  in  particular  industries  or  occupations.  Some  em- 
ployers have  shifted  employes  from  one  department  in  its  slack  season  to  other 
departments  in  which  the  demand  is  more  active. 

This  is  the  practice  in  the  firm  of  Hart,  Schaffner  and  Marx  in  the 
Chicago  clothing  industry.  See,  also,  G.  R.  Taylor,  loc.  cit,  p.  123. 

In  agriculture  efforts  are  being  made  to  adopt  such  cropping  systems  and 
organization  of  work  as  will  require  a  regular  labor  force  during  the  year. 

W.  J.  Spillman,  Seasonal  Distribution  of  Labor  on  the  Farm,  Year- 
book of  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1911,  pp.  269-84. 

It  seems  very  probable  that  such  efforts  to  regularize  industry  and  agricul- 
ture, in  so  far  as  they  are  the  result  of  difficulties  of  securing  labor,  will  be 
nullified  by  increased  facilities  of  securing  labor. 

If  any  such  results  as  the  promotion  of  irregularity  of  industrial  operations 
or  the  nullification  of  the  efforts  to  make  industry  more  regular  should  appear, 
they  might  be  off-set  by  legislation  that  would  regulate  the  hours  of  work,  by 
penalties  on  over-time,  and  similar  measures ;  it  might  be  possible,  also,  to  gen- 
eralize the  legislation  of  South  Carolina  which  requires  that  employers  must, 
with  certain  conditions,  give  notice  to  their  employes  two  weeks  before  a  shut- 
down occurs. 

American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  2:490,  Oct.,  '12. 

This  would  give  the  employes  an  opportunity  to  register  at  the  pub- 
lic agencies  and  to  secure  other  employment.  Also  it  is  possible  that  seasonal 
variations,  if  promoted  by  the  public  agencies,  might  be  off-set  by  such  arrange- 
ments as  that  in  the  sugar  refineries,  by  which  two  refineries  are  maintained  in 


168 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

readiness  to  start  in  times  of  unusual  demand  and  are  shut  down  when  that  de- 
mand ceases,  thus  keeping  the  operations  of  the  other  refineries  more  constant. 
American  Sugar  Refining  Company,  Statement,  1909,  p.  1. 

Emigration  at  the  present  time  tends  to  reduce  the  number  of  the  unem- 
ployed in  times  of  depression,  at  least  to  a  small  extent,  since  it  reduces  the 
entire  labor  supply  in  the  country.  Emigration  is  undoubtedly  promoted  at  such 
times  by  the  difficulties  of  securing  employment.  It  is  to  be  expected,  therefore, 
that  any  improvement  in  the  facilities  of  securing  employment  would  tend  to 
reduce  emigration.  Moreover,  the  foreign  laborers,  with  lower  standards  of  liv- 
ing, would  have  an  advantage  in  competing  for  positions  in  some  occupations, 
thus  increasing  the  number  of  citizens  unemployed.  It  might  be  possible  to  off- 
set any  such  tendency  by  giving  a  preference  to  citizens,  but  such  a  method  would 
throw  on  to  the  community  the  burden  of  supporting  those  foreigners  who  do 
not  emigrate. 

According  to  Webb,  the  provision  of  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act 
which  required  twelve  months'  residence  in  a  district,  for  eligibility  to  the 
labor  exchange,  worked  badly.  Public  Organization  of  the  Labour  Mar- 
ket, p.  157. 

One  of  the  principles  on  which  the  public  employment  agency  relies  for  effi- 
ciency in  reducing  unemployment  is  the  increase  of  inter-occupational  ability. 
The  trade  union  movement,  on  the  other  hand,  has  been  built  up  on  the  princi- 
ple of  the  control  of  the  labor  supply,  and 'the  consequent  inhibition  of  inter- 
occupational  mobility  by  apprenticeship  regulations,  and  by  other  methods  of 
making  it  difficult  to  enter  an  occupation.  The  public  employment  agency  and  the 
trade  union  appear,  therefore,  to  be  fundamentally  in  conflict.  The  trade  union 
attempts  to  reduce  the  number  of  persons  who  can  compete  for  positions  in  its 
trade ;  the  public  employment  agency  attempts  to  break  down  the  barriers  between 
trades  to  permit  a  greater  fluidity  of  labor,  and  to  enable  workmen  to  secure  posi- 
tions without  reference  to  craft  lines.  The  trade  unions  of  Germany  have,  to  be 
sure,  cooperated  with  the  public  agencies,  but  this  cooperation  seems  to  be  a  com- 
promise made  in  consideration  of  a  similar  surrender  by  the  employers.  What  the 
effect  will  be  on  the  trade  unions  is  not  yet  apparent. 

There  are  many  questions  connected  with  the  relationship  of  these  two  in- 
stitutions which  are,  similarly,  far  from  clear.  There  has  been  considerable  dis- 
cussion of  the  proper  policy  for  the  public  aeency  in  times  of  strikes  and  lockouts, 
and  it  has  been  generally  agreed  by  the  students  of  unemployment  that  the  agencies 
should  be  impartial,  by  which  it  has  been  meant  that  they  should  merely  inform  the 
workers  of  the  existence  of  strikes  and  lock-outs  and  permit  the  individual  worker 
and  the  individual  employer  to  make  the  bargain  on  the  basis  of  this  information. 
Since  this  assumes  individual  bargaining,  it  does  not  seem  "impartial"  to  the  trade 
unionists,  who  are  accustomed  to  insist  on  collective  bargaining.  However,  the  trade 
unionists  prefer  such  "impartial"  agencies  to  the  agencies  of  the  employers,  in 
which  the  seeker  for  employment  is  frequently  left  quite  ignorant  of  the  existence 
of  industrial  difficulties. 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  secure  the  support  of  trade  unions,  but  the  attitude 
has  generally  been  of  this  nature:  assuming  the  general  ideal,  as  outlined  above, 
what  elements  in  it  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  can  be  presented  to  the  trade 
unions  in  a  way  to  win  their  support?  There  has  been  no  fair  consideration  of  the 
possibility  of  destroying  trade  unions  in  case  a  monopoly  of  placement  is  secured 
by  the  public  agencies.  In  so  far  as  the  trade  union  rests  on  the  control  of  the 
personnel  and  the  closed  shop,  this  monopoly  of  placement,  either  by  virtue  of 
law  or  of  efficiency  of  operations,  would  apparently  destroy  the  trade  union  move- 
ment, and  might  turn  it  into  a  movement  less  desirable  than  the  present  one.  In 
general  the  problems  involved  in  the  relationship  of  trade  unions  and  employment 
agencies  have  not  been  adequately  investigated  and  there  is  no  satisfactory  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  effect  of  the  policy  of  employment  agencies,  or  in  regard  to 
the  possibility  of  modifying  the  policies  to  obviate  whatever  bad  effects  result. 

The  second  general  principle  on  which  the  public  employment  agency  relies 
for  increased  efficiency  is  the  promotion  of  inter-local  mobility.  It  is  not  sufficient 
justification  of  a  public  agency  to  show  that  it  will  secure  work  for  a  person  in 
another  community,  which  the  existing  agencies  are  unable  to  secure.  The  ques- 
tion must  be  asked,  Is  this  increased  mobility  desirable?  The  abstraction  of  the 


REPORT   OF   THE    MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 169 

data  of  unemployment  from  the  general  social  order  and  the  assumption  that  the 
problem  should  be  solved  by  shifting  workers  to  meet  the  needs  of  an  industrial 
system  which  is  regarded  as  fixed  and  given  have  resulted  in  plans  and  policies 
which  seem  to  consider  the  unemployed  as  parts  of  a  machine,  to  be  transferred 
from  a  condition  of  unemployment  to  a  condition  of  employment.  The  unemployed 
have  been  dehumanized  for  the  purpose  of  the  solution  of  this  problem.  They  have 
not  been  considered  as  concrete  human  beings.  There  has  been  practically  no  in- 
vestigation of  the  effects  of  increased  mobility  on  the  unemployed  as  human  beings, 
or  of  the  effects  on  their  habits  and  conduct  of  a  transference  from  their  primary 
personal  groups  to  other  communities  in  which  they  are  unknown  and  in  which  no 
substitutes  for  these  primary  groups  have  been  prepared. 

Beveridge  refers  to  this  only  in  the  following  short  footnote :  "The  la- 
bour exchange  affects  only  one  obstacle  to  movement  of  labour, — namely, 
ignorance  of  where  to  go.  It  neither  removes  nor  ignores  other  obstacles : 
least  of  all  does  it,  as  some  of  its  critics  have  urged,  ignore  the  fact  that 
'workmen  have  homes.'  Its  aim  is  to  give  the  workmen  a  chance,  wherever 
possible,  between  starving  at  home  and  getting  work  away  from  home.  At 
present  lack  of  information  leaves  him  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  without  this 
choice."  Unemployment,  p.  203,  footnote.  This  does  not  remove  the  diffi- 
culty, however,  for  there  are  possibilities  that  the  successful  operation  of 
the  employment  agency  might  produce  a  mobility  that  would  be  less  desirable 
than  unemployment. 

The  ideals  of  the  individual  are  largely  formed  and  maintained  in  the  primary 
group,  in  which  there  are  intimate  personal  relationships  and  face-to-face  contacts. 
Cooley,  Social  Organization,  pp.  23  ff. 

It  is  principally  the  sanction  of  one's  personal  relationships  that  holds  him  in  line 
with  the  type  of  conduct  considered  desirable  by  his  group ;  apart  from  the  pres- 
sure of  these  primary  groups  formal  standards  of  law  and  morality  seem  to  have 
slight  influence.  Though  the  trend  of  modern  civilization  is  very  definitely  in 
the  direction  of  the  break-up  of  the  static  non-communicating  groups,  the  possibil- 
ities of  a  general  substitution  of  a  mobile,  unattached,  footloose  existence  for  the 
present  system  of  small  group  control  and  group  self-protection  are  involved  in 
the  policy  of  the  public  employment  agencies  in  so  far  as  they  succeed  in  their 
ideal  of  promoting  mobility. 

There  is  some  slight  evidence  from  Scotland  that  family  desertion  has 
been  increased  by  this  policy  of  the  employment  agencies  to  assist  workers  to 
secure  employment  abroad.  Survey,  30 :38S,  June  21,  '13. 

Leiserson  has  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  laborers  are  already  more 
casual  than  the  jobs,  and  that  few  of  the  laborers  wait  for  the  end  of  the 
season  to  throw  them  out  of  work.  "How  to  stop  the  drifting,  the  incessant 
changing  of  places,  the  moving  from  town  to  town,  when  there  is  plenty  of 
work  at  home — that  is  the  important  phase  of  this  problem  which  needs  to  be 
studied.  The  spectacle  of  thousands  of  laborers  roaming  idle  about  the 
country,  or  working  at  odd  jobs  while  employers  are  fairly  begging  for  men, 
has  been  witnessed  by  employment  agents  throughout  the  country  during  the 
last  two  summers.  Could  there  be  a  greater  menace  to  industrial  stability  and 
prosperity?  If  labor  retaliates  as  capital  has  done,  and  moves  away  or  re- 
fuses to  invest  his  labor  power,  then  what  will  become  of  our  industrial 
structure  and  the  civilization  built  upon  it?.  ..  .Perhaps  there  is  no  incentive 
to  labor  under  present  conditions."  The  Laborer  Who  Refuses  to  Invest, 
Survey,  31:165,  Nov.  8,  '13. 

There  are  undoubtedly  many  narrow  group  standards  which  should  be  de- 
stroyed, but  at  the  same  time  it  is  desirable  that  there  be  some  substitute  better 
than  those  for  migratory  workers  at  present,  such  as  lodging-houses,  labor-camps 
and  cheap  saloons.  A  wider  experience,  also,  is  desirable  and  the  increased  mo- 
bility may  assist  workers  to  secure  this.  But  these  general  problems  concerning 
the  policy  of  increasing  mobility  are  yet  unsolved. 

Another  aspect  of  this  increased  mobility  is  the  possibility  that  it  may  mean 
an  increased  mobility  of  the  country  workers  toward  the  cities,  a  promotion  of 
the  drift  to  the  cities.  While  the  public  employment  agencies  would  tend  to 
secure  employment  for  the  unemployed  persons  residing  in  the  cities,  they  would 


170 REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

also  tend  to  have  the  reciprocal  influence  of  securing  employment  in  the  cities 
for  those  residing  in  small  towns  and  open  country. 

The  New  York  Commission  on  Unemployment  stated  that  the  public 
agencies  would  assist  farm  laborers  to  secure  work  in  the  neighboring  towns 
during  the  winter.  Report,  1911,  pp.  13,  67. 

In  England,  even  with  attempts  to  prevent  it,  the  public  agencies  have  had 
some  tendency  to  promote  the  rural  exodus,  so  far  as  York  is  concerned. 

Rowntree  and  Lasker,  Bulletin  de  1'association  Internationale  pour  la 
lutte  centre  le  chomage,  2:407,  Oct.-Dec.,  '11. 

Whether,  on  the  whole,  the  drift  would  be  principally  from  the  city  to  the 
country  or  from  the  country  to  the  city  is  as  yet  uncertain.  But  there  seems  to 
be  a  very  considerable  antipathy  on  the  part  of  the  city  workers  to  employment 
in  the  country  and  a  very  considerable  desire  on  the  part  of  country  workers  to 
get  into  the  cities.  The  inference  is  that  the  drift  to  the  cities  would  probably 
be  promoted.  It  is  still  uncertain  whether  this  influence,  if  it  should  prove  to  be 
so,  would  be  desirable  or  undesirable.  The  German  public  agencies  have  met 
this  problem  to  a  certain  extent  by  administrative  methods  of  hampering  the  coun- 
try workers  who  express  a  desire  for  city  employment  and  particularly  by  sub- 
mitting information  in  regard  to  the  opportunities  for  work  in  the  cities,  the  cost 
of  living  and  the  conditions  of  work. 

Baab,  op.  cit,  pp.  215-17,  270. 

The  public  employment  agency  by  increasing  the  facilities  for  employment 
and  promoting  inter-local  mobility  would  offer  excellent  opportunities  to  those 
workers,  already  numerous  in  the  United  States,  who  refuse  to  work  in  one  place 
longer  than  a  few  days  or  a  few  weeks. 

Leiserson,  Survey,  31 :165-66,  Nov.  8,  '13. 

Public  employment  agencies  may  result  in  the  encouragement  of  temporary 
engagements,  frequent  changes  in  the  place  of  employment  and  consequently  a 
mobilization  of  labor  which,  from  the  standpoint  of  industry,  is  unnecessary,  and, 
from  the  standpoint  of  social  control,  is  apparently  undesirable.  It  is  reported 
that  the  German  public  employment  agencies  have  had  the  effect  of  increasing 
the  short  time  engagements  and  frequent  changes  in  engagements  because  of  this 
increased  facility  of  securing  employment. 

W.  Beauchamp,  Insurance  Against  Unemployment,  Westminster  Re- 
view, 175:163,  '11. 

One  of  the  important  effects  of  this  increase  in  inter-local  and  inter-occu- 
pational mobility  would  be  to  increase  the  potential  competition.  There  has  been 
no  adequate  investigation  of  the  effect  of  this  increase  of  competition  on  the  bar- 
gains made  by  employers  and  employes. 

A.  L.   Bowley  has  made  a  careful  analysis,  on  the  basis  of  theoretical 
and  mathematical  data,  of  the  relation  of  mobility  to  wages.     Wages  and 
the  Mobility  of  Labour,  Economic  Journal,  22:46-52,  March,  '12.    He  reaches 
the  conclusion  that  "increased  mobility  of  labour  always  tends  to  produce 
lower  prices  to  the  consumer,  or  higher  average  wages  or  higher  profits,  and 
may  produce  all  three."     But  there  has  been  no  investigation  of  the  rela- 
tion of  public  employment  agencies  or  of  increased  mobility  to  wages  and 
conditions  of  work  on  the  basis  of  actual  experiences  with  these  agencies. 
The  general  assumption  has  been  that  employment  agencies  will  improve  con- 
ditions of  work  merely  by  making  them  known  to  the  workers, 

Baab,  op.  cit,  p.  162. 

and  that  more  advantageous  bargains  will  be  made  since  both  parties  to  the 
bargain  would  be  acting  on  the  basis  of  more  complete  information  in  regard  to 
the  demand  and  supply. 

Baab,  op.  cit.,  p.  257. 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  establishments  in  which  the  conditions  of  work 
and  pay  are  most  satisfactory  to  the  workers  would  secure  greater  permanency 
of  engagements,  and  that  these  establishments  would  make  fewer  demands  on 
the  agencies  than  the  establishments  in  which  the  conditions  are  less  satisfactory. 
Consequently  the  public  agencies  would  be  of  greatest  assistance  to  the  parasitic 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION    ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 171 

industries  and  to  the  industries  in  which  the  conditions  were  least  satisfactory. 
Whether  these  industries  would  be  able  to  secure  workers  through  the  public 
agencies  is  uncertain,  for  the  workers  might  prefer  to  wait  for  better  opportuni- 
ties of  employment  and  thus  force  the  employers  to  improve  these  conditions.  In 
general  it  is  still  largely  a  matter  of  speculation  as  to  whether  the  public  agen- 
cies would  so  reduce  unemployment  as  to  increase  the  competition  between  em- 
ployers and  thus  result  in  the  improvement  in  the  work  conditions,  or  whether 
the  competition  between  the  employes  would  become  so  keen  as  to  impose  on 
them  conditions  which  are  even  less  desirable  than  unemployment.  There  is  a 
further  constitutional  question  in  the  United  States, — whether  the  public  employ- 
ment agencies  could  constitutionally  discriminate  between  employers  on  the  basis 
of  conditions  of  work.  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Immigration  maintains  em- 
ployment agencies  which  make  careful  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  wages  and  the 
conditions  of  work,  and  on  the  basis  of  this  information  advises  the  applicants 
for  employment  to  apply  for  the  positions  or  not  to  apply. 

United  States,  Annual  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  1909, 
pp.  232-34. 

There  is  no  indication  that  the  other  public  agencies  in  the  United  States  make 
such  investigations,  except  in  regard  to  the  wages,  or  that  they  have  attempted  to 
control  the  conditions  of  employment. 

This  difficulty  of  discriminating  between  employers  was  one  of  the  rea- 
sons for  making  the  National  Employment  Exchange  a  philanthropic 
rather  than  a  public  agency.  Devine,  op.  cit.,  pp.  16-17. 

These  questions  are  fundamental  to  the  conception  of  the  function  of  pub- 
lic employment  agencies.  They  have  not  been  adequately  investigated  and  pos- 
sibly can  not  be  investigated  except  on  the  basis  of  the  actual  operations  of  such 
agencies. 

Summarizing,  it  may  be  said  that  unemployment  is  one  of  the  most  important 
social  problems  of  modern  times ;  the  extent  and  effects  of  unemployment  are  of 
such  a  nature  that  some  solution  of  the  problem  is  urgently  demanded.  Stu- 
dents of  unemployment  have  suggested  a  program  for  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem ;  in  this  program  the  leading  place  is  given  to  the  public  employment  agency, 
the  function  of  which  is  to  organize  the  labor  market.  Up  to  this  time  the  pub- 
lic and  non-public  employment  agencies  in  the  United  States  have  developed  a 
very  inadequate  organization  of  the  labor  market ;  they  have  resulted  in  the  es- 
tablishment and  maintenance  of  a  long  series  of  distinct,  non-cooperating  and 
frequently  competing  centers  in  the  labor  market,  and  there  has  been  no  develop- 
ment of  central  agencies,  communicating  with  similar  agencies  in  the  rest  of  the 
country,  in  which  demands  for  and  supplies  of  labor  in  all  occupations  and  all 
localities  are  represented.  The  operation  of  such  agencies,  however,  is  rendered 
extremely  difficult  because  of  the  opposition  on  the  part  of  many  workers  to  an 
increased'  mobility  and  on  the  part  of  the  trade  unions  and  the  employers'  asso- 
ciations to  the  loss  of  their  own  agencies,  which  are  valuable  weapons  in  the  in- 
dustrial conflict;  also,  there  is  no  adequate  basis  for  a  determination  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  such  agencies,  operating  on  the  policy  of  increasing  inter-occupa- 
tional and  inter-local  mobility,  would  succeed  in  reducing  unemployment. 

In  the  presentation  of  this  program  the  students  of  unemployment  have 
not  used  a  valid  logic,  for  they  have  based  their  solutions  on  the  facts  of  unem- 
ployment alone,  have  abstracted  those  facts  from  the  general  social  order,  and 
for.  the  purpose  of  the  solution  of  the  problem  have  dehumanized  the  unemployed ; 
and  'they  have  assumed  the  industrial  fluctuations,  from  which  unemployment  re- 
sults, as  the  fixed  and  given.  Consequently  they  have  not  investigated  thoroughly 
the  important  effects  that  such  institutions  may  be  expected  to  have  on  other  social 
conditions  than  unemployment.  The  decrease  in  the  regularity  of  industrial  oper- 
ations, the  reduction  of  emigration  in  times  of  depression,  the  destruction  of  the 
present  trade  union  principle  of  trade  exclusiveness,  the  partial  dissipation  of 
small  group  control,  the  promotion  of  the  drift  to  the  city,  the  increase  in  the 
class  of  shiftless  workers,  the  fostering  of  parasitic  industries  are  possible  effects 
of  such  agencies.  There  is  no  certainty  that  any  or  all  of  these  effects  will  re- 
sult, but  there  is  no  certainty  that  they  will  not  result,  and  the  question  of  whether 
such  effects  will  result  has  not  been  adequately  investigated.  These  agencies  are 
expected  to  give  more  complete  information  in  regard  to  the  labor  market,  and 


172  REPORT  OF   THE   MAYOR'S   COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

abstractly  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the  most  complete  information.  But  that 
increase  in  information  may  be  expected  to  produce  great  changes  in  the  social 
organization  and  provision  may,  by  some  forethought,  be  made  to  prevent  in- 
juries that  result  from  sudden  changes. 

It  is  not  intended  to  deny  that  employment  agencies  of  some  kind  are  and 
probably  always  will  be  a  necessity,  and  that  at  the  present  time  the  state  seems 
to  be  the  best  equipped  to  manage  those  agencies  efficiently,  at  least  for  some 
classes  of  workers.  But  there  is  doubt  in  regard  to  whether  those  agencies 
should  set  out  to  reduce  unemployment  as  far  as  possible  by  shifting  workers 
from  one  locality  to  another  or  from  one  occupation  to  another,  when  some  of 
the  necessity  for  shifting  might  be  removed  by  modifications  in  the  industrial 
methods,  in  the  habits  of  consumers  and  in  the  social  organization  in  general. 
If  it  is  true  that  unemployment  is  inherent  in  the  modern  industrial  organization, 
the  broader  problem  of  the  modification  of  that  organization  is  presented,  and  it 
would  appear  that  the  problem  to  which  the  entire  society  gives  rise  can  not  be 
satisfactorily  solved  by  manipulation  of  a  part  of  the  society. 

This  means  that  the  public  employment  agency  is  in  an  experimental  stage. 
Its  complete  effects  have  not  been  determined.  Consequently  its  proper  function 
can  be  determined  only  after  the  various  possible  and  actual  effects  of  such  agen- 
cies have  been  thoroughly  investigated,  and  such  an  investigation  is  possible  only 
on  the  basis  of  agencies  actually  existent.  It  means,  also,  that  such  institutions 
•can  not  be  maintained  in  the  present  social,  organization  without  reacting  on  the 
social  organization ;  therefore,  in  establishing  public  employment  agencies  it  is 
necessary  to  do  much  more  than  to  establish  such  agencies :  it  is  necessary,  for 
instance,  to  make  provisions  for  the  increased  mobility  which  will  be  more  satis- 
factory than  the  present  lodging-houses.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  public  em- 
ployment agency  is  a  harmful  institution,  but  that  the  desirability  of  this  insti- 
tution is  dependent  partly  on  the  extent  to  which  harmful  reactions  on  the  so- 
ciety can  be  prevented  by  a  plan  which  is  more  inclusive  than  the  program  for 
dealing  with  unemployment,  and  the  extent  to  which  its  function  is  determined 
by  adequate  investigation  of  these  reactions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Abbott,  Grace.  The  Chicago  Employment  Agency  and  the  Immigrant  Worker, 
American  Journal  of  Sociology,  14:289-305,  Nov.,  '08. 

Adler,  Georg.  "Arbeitslosigkeit  und  Arbeitslosenversicherung"  in  Conrad's 
Handworterbuch  der  Staatswissenschaften. 

American  Federationist,   1899-1909.     Current   statistics  of  unemployment. 

Association  internationale  pour  la  lutte  centre  le  chomage.  Bulletin  and  compte 
rendu.  These  give  the  best  descriptions  of  the  theory  and  statistics  of  unem- 
ployment and  of  employment  exchanges  in  Europe. 

B.  K.,  La  lutte  pour  le  placement  paritaire.  Bulletin  de  1'association  pour  la  lutte 
centre  le  chomage,  Oct.-Dec.,  '11. 

B.  K.,  La  opinion  ouvriere  et  le  placement  public.  Bulletin  de  1'association  pour  la 
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Baab,  A.  Arbeitslosenversicherung,  Arbeitsvermittlung  und  Arbeitsbeschaffung, 
Leipzig,  1911. 

Beveridge,  W.  H.  Unemployment :  A  Problem  in  Industry.  Longmans.  1910. 
The  best  general  work  on  unemployment. 

Bogart,  E.  L.  Public  Employment  Offices  in  the  United  States  and  Germany. 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  14:359-68,  May,  1900. 

California,  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  These  reports  give 
_  the  most  definite  statistics  on  private  agencies. 

Chicago  City  Club.  "Trade  Union  Employment  Agencies  in  Chicago."  Unpub- 
lished Report  of  Sub-Committee  of  the  Committee  of  Labor.  1911. 

Citizens'  Free  Employment  Bureau,  Milwaukee.  Bulletin  of  the  Milwaukee  Bu- 
reau of  Economy  and  Efficiency,  No.  6,  1911. 

Conference  of  State  Immigration,  Land   and  Labor  Officials.     Annual  Reports. 

Colorado.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Reports  of  state  em- 
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REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 173 

Connecticut.     Annual  Reports  of   Bureau   of   Labor   Statistics.     Reports   of    state 

agencies  begin  in   17th  Annual   Report,    1901.     Some   additional   materials   on 

these  agencies  appear  in  the  Connecticut  Labor  Bulletin. 
Conner,  J.   E.     Free   Public  Employment  Offices  in  the  United   States.     Bulletin 

of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  68,  Jan.,  '07. 
Devine,  E.  T.     Report  on  the  Desirability  of  Establishing  an  Employment  Bureau 

in  the  City  of  New  York.     Charities  Pub.  Co.,  N.  Y.,  1910. 
Gompers,  S.     Government  Labor  Exchanges.     American  Federationist,   17 :993-95. 

Nov.,   '10. 
Gompers,    S.      Schemes    to    "Distribute"     Immigrants,    American    Federationist, 

18:513-29,  July,  '11. 
G'riinspan,  A.   Ueber  den  Begriff  der  Arbeitslosigkeit.   Soziale  Praxis,  21:96-97, 

Feb.  29,  '12. 
Illinois,  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.     10th  Report,  1898,  pp. 

43-138 — a  general   survey  of   the  public   employment   agencies   of   the   United 

States  and  Europe. 

Illinois.     Annual  Report  of  Free  Employment  Offices.     1st,   1899. 
Illinois.    Report  of  Special  Committee  on  Labor.     House  of  Rep.,  1879.    An  early 

investigation  of  unemployment. 

Indiana.     Biennial  Reports  of  Department  of   Statistics.     Reports  of  state  agen- 
cies begin  in  13th,  1909-10. 

International  Association  of  Officials  of  Bureaus  of  Labor,  1883. 
Iowa.     Biennial  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.     An  investigation  of  pri- 
vate agencies  in  4th,  1890-91,  pp.  217-37. 

Jackson,  Cyril.     Unemployment  and  Trade  Unions.     Longmans.     1910. 
Kaiserliche    Statistisches    Amt,   Abteilung   fur   Arbeiterstatistik.      Die   bestehenden 

Einrichtungen    zur    Versicherung   gegen    die    Folgen    der    Arbeitslosigkeit    im 

Ausland  und  im  Deutschen  Reich.     Berlin.     1906. 

Kansas.    Annual  Reports  of  Director  of  Free  Employment  Bureau.     1st,  1901. 
Kansas  City,   Annual  Reports  of   Board  of   Public  Welfare.     1st,    1909-10.     This 

gives    statistics    of    local    unemployment   and   of    the    work   of    the    municipal 

employment  agency. 
Kellor,   Frances   A.     Out  of   Work.     Putnams.     1909.     This   is   the   best  general 

study  of  private  and  philanthropic  employment  agencies  in  the  United  States. 

Kessler,  G.    Die  Arbeitsnachweise  der  Arbeitgeberverbande.     Leipzig.     1911. 

Kleene,    G.      The    Statistical    Study    of    Causes    of    Destitution.      Publications    of 

American  Statistical  Association,  11 :273-85,  Sept.,  '08. 
Lazard,  Max.     Le  chomage  et  la  profession.     Alcan :     Paris.     1909.     This  is  the 

best  analysis  of  the  statistics  and  statistical  methods  of  unemployment. 
Leiserson,  W.  M.    The  Laborer  Who  Refuses  to  Invest.     Survey,  31:164-65,  Nov. 

8,  '13. 

Leiserson,  W.  M.     See  New  York,  Report  of  Commission  on  Unemployment. 
Lipowski,  J.    Die  Frage  der  Arbeitslosigkeit  in  der  klassischen  Nationaloekonomie. 

Zeitschrift  fur  die  gesamte  Staatswissenschaft,  68:583-657,  Heft.  4,  '12. 
Maryland.     Annual    Reports    of    Bureau    of    Labor    Statistics.      Reports    of    state 

agency  begin  in  9th,  1900.    Study  of  industrial  depression,  3rd,  1894,  pp.  115-71. 

Investigation  of  private  employment  agencies,  5th,  1896,  pp.  64-78. 
Massachusetts.    Annual  Reports  of  Statistics  of  Labor.     Reports  of  state  agencies 

begin  in  38th,  1907.     Statistics  of  unemployment  in  10th,  1879,  pp.  1-10;   18th, 

1887,  pp.   1-294;  23rd,  1893,  pp.  1-268.     General  description  of  public  employ- 
ment agencies  in  the  United  States  and  Europe  in  34th,  1903. 
Massachusetts.     Census  of  1885  and  of  1895.     Statistics  of  unemployment. 
Massachusetts.     Labor  Bulletin,  1908.     Current  statistics  of  unemployment. 
Massachusetts.     Report  of  Board  to  Investigate  the  Subject  of  the  Unemployed. 

1895.    House  Doc.  No.  50. 

Massachusetts.    Report  of  Commission  to  Investigate  Employment  Offices,  1911. 
Michels,  R.     Das   Problem  der  Arbeitslosigkeit  und  ihre  Bekampfung  durch   die 

deutschen     freien     Gewerkschaften.      Archiv     fiir     Sozialwissenschaften     und 

Sozialpolitik,  31 :465  f f.,  1910. 
Michigan.     Annual   Reports   of   Bureau  of   Labor.     Called   Department   of   Labor 

after  1910.     Reports  of  state  agencies  begin  in  23rd,  1906. 


174  REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S  •  COMMISSION   ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 

fjg. 

Minnesota.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor.  Reports  of  state  agencies 
begin  in  10th,  1905-06. 

Missouri.  Annual  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Reports  of  state  agen- 
cies begin  in  19th,  1897.  Report  of  investigation  of  "want  ads."  and  private 
agencies  in  12th,  1889-90;  and  13th,  1891. 

Montana.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Agriculture,  Labor  and  Industry.  Reports 
of  Public  agencies  begin  in  5th,  1895-96. 

National  Employment  Exchange,  New  York  City.    Annual  Reports,  1st,  1910. 

Nebraska.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor.  Reports  of  state  agency  begin 
in  5th,  1895-96. 

New  Hampshire.  Second  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  1894,  pp.  274-416. 
The  Industrial  Depression. 

New  Jersey.  Annual  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  17th,  1894,  pp.  1-77 
and  31st,  1908,  pp.  127-227  contain  studies  of  the  industrial  depressions. 

New  York.  Annual  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Called  Department 
of  Labor  after  1901.  Reports  of  state  agencies  begin  in  14th,  1896;  after  1901 
appear  in  the  General  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor.  Report  of  inves- 
tigation of  private  employment  agencies  in  4th,  1886,  pp.  23-65.  Statistics  of 
unemployment  in  llth,  1893,  pp.  3187-3332. 

New  York.  Annual  Reports  of  Department  of  Agriculture.  Reports  of  state 
agency  begin  in  14th,  1906. 

New  York.     Census  of  1885  and  of  1895.     Statistics  of  unemployment. 

New  York.     Labor  Bulletins.     1897.     Current  statistics  of  unemployment. 

New  York.  Report  of  Commission  of  Immigration.  1909.  Report  of  investiga- 
tion of  private  employment  agencies. 

New  York.  Report  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  by  the  Commis- 
sion to  Inquire  into  the  Question  of  Employers'  Liability  and  Other  Matters. 
Third  Report:  Unemployment  and  Lack  of  Farm  Labor.  1911.  This  is  the 
best  general  descriptive  account  of  the  whole  field  of  unemployment  and 
employment  agencies  in  the  United  States. 

Ohio.  Annual  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Reports  of  state  agencies 
begin  in  14th,  1890.  Report  of  investigation  of  private  agencies  in  12th,  1888, 
pp.  262-67. 

Oklahoma.  Annual  Reports  of  Department  of  Labor.  Reports  of  state  agencies 
begin  in  1st,  1908. 

Oregon.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Reports  of  Portland 
municipal  agency  begin  in  5th,  1911. 

Reece,  T.     British  Labour  Exchanges.     American  Federationist,  19:56-57,  Jan.,  '12. 

Rhode  Island.  Annual  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics.  Reports  of 
state  agencies  begin  in  23rd,  1909.  General  descriptive  account  of  public 
employment  agencies  of  the  United  States  and  Europe  in  14th,  1900,  pp.  79-178. 
Census  of  Unemployment,  22nd,  1908,  pp.  1-50. 

Rowntree,  B.  Seebohn  and  Bruno  Lasker.  Unemployment :  A  Social  Study.  Mac- 
millan.  1911.  This  is  the  most  intensive  study  of  the  extent,  causes  and 
effects  of  unemployment  that  has  been  made ;  it  is  confined  to  the  city  of 
York,  England. 

Sargent,  Frank  B.  Statistics  of  Unemployment  and  the  Work  of  Employment 
Offices.  Bulletin  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  Whole  No.  109,  Oct.  15,  '12.  This, 
with  the  report  by  Conner,  above,  constitute  the  best  descriptive  accounts  of 
public  agencies  in  the  United  States. 

Solenberger,  Alice  W.  One  Thousand  Homeless  Men.  Charities  Pub.  Co.,  New 
York.  1911.  An  excellent  first-hand  study  of  this  class  of  the  unemployed. 

Trades  Union  Congress,  Great  Britain.  42nd  Annual  Report,  1909,  and  following. 
These  show  the  attitude  of  the  trade  unions  of  England  toward  the  public 
labor  exchanges. 

United  States.  Annual  Reports  of  Commissioner  of  Immigration.  Reports  of 
federal  employment  agencies  begin  in  Report  for  1909. 

United  States.  Annual  Reports  of  Commissioner  of  Labor.  1st,  1886,  on  industrial 
depressions.  18th,  1903,  on  cost  of  living,  including  a  study  of  the  unem- 
ployed. 

United  States.    Blair  Committee  Report  on  Labor  and  Capital,  1882. 

United  States.     Census  of  1890  and  of  1900.     Statistics  of  unemployment. 


REPORT   OF   THE   MAYOR'S    COMMISSION   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT         ^     175 

United  States.  Department  of  Agriculture.  "List  of  Free  Employment  Agencies 
for  the  Use  of  Farmers."  Division  of  Statistics,  Circular  No.  13,  June  28, 
1900.  Pp.  42. 

United  States,  Geological  Survey.     Current  statistics  of  unemployment  of  miners. 

United  States.  Hewitt  Report  on  Causes  of  the  General  Depression  in  Labor  and 
Business.  3rd  Sess.,  1879.  House  Doc.  No.  29. 

United  States.  Report  on  the  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the  Iron  and  Steel 
Industry.  Vol.  III.  62nd  Congress,  1st  Sess.,  Doc.  No.  110. 

Washington.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Reports  of  munici- 
pal agencies  in  the  state  begin  in  1st,  1897-98. 

Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice.  Minority  Report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commission.  Part 
II.:  Public  Organization  of  the  Labour  Market,  edited,  with  introduction,  by 
Sidney  and  Beatrice  Webb.  Longmans,  London.  1909.  This  is  one  of  the 
best  general  works  on  unemployment. 

Wrebb,  Sidney.    Editor.     Seasonal  Trades.    London :    Constable.     1912. 

West  Virginia.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Reports  of  state 
agency  begin  in  7th,  1901-02. 

Wisconsin.  Biennial  Reports  of  Bureau  of  Labor.  Reports  of  state  agencies  begin 
.in  10th,  1900-01;  after  1911  these  reports  appear  in  the  Bulletins  of  the  Indus- 
trial Commission. 

Wood,  G.  H.  Some  Statistics  Relating  to  Working  Class  Progress  since  1860. 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Statistical  Society,  62:640-48,  1899.  Analysis  of  English 
statistics  of  unemployment  from  1860  to  1895. 


